Clinical application of measurement of glucose transport in human polymorphonuclear leukocytes

Transport of the non-metabolizable hexose analogue 3-O-methyl-D-glucose (3OMG) was measured at 37 degrees C, pH 7.4, in human polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNLs) obtained from 15 ml of fresh venous blood. In the study, 0.05 mM of 3OMG was equilibrated with a half-time of about 10 s, and the rate constant was 0.074/s in PMNLs from a healthy subject (male, 38 years). The coefficient of variation of values assayed on different days was about 7% and the intra-assay variation was about 2%. The transport rate did not differ between the two sexes or between subjects of different ages (23-63 years), but was significantly higher in 23 patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes than in 29 normal controls (13.3 +/- 3.7 vs. 10.4 +/- 2.5 fl/cell.s, mean +/- SD). In conclusion, the measurement of transport of 3OMG in PMNLs may be useful for the study of glucose transport in clinical investigations.