Reduced levels of erythrocyte sorbitol dehydrogenase activity in human diabetics

Erythrocyte sorbitol dehydrogenase activity was significantly lower for 34 diabetic patients (mean +/- SD: 0.219 +/- 0.085 U min-1 g Hb-1) than for 27 normal blood donors (0.34 +/- 0.094 U min-1 g Hb-1). This finding agrees with the previous report of low sorbitol dehydrogenase activity in the lens of diabetic patients but contrasts with the data of Crabbe and collaborators (M.J.C. Crabbe, A.B. Halder, C.O. Peckar and H. Cheng, Lancet, 2: 1268-1270, 1980) who found a large variation in the levels of the diabetic population and which was not significantly different from the normal control.