摘要：A sensitive HPLC method for simultaneous determination of endogenous levels of all- trans - (ATRA), 13- cis - (13cRA), and 9- cis -retinoic acids (9cRA) was applied to serum samples from healthy volunteers and type II diabetes mellitus patients. Levels of 9cRA (around 0.2 ng/ml in both groups) were below the limit of quantification. The concentrations of ATRA and 13cRA were reliably quantified, and the within-day and between-days variances indicated that they were well maintained with little variation. Concentrations of serum ATRA and 13cRA of diabetic patients (ATRA: 1.76±0.54 ng/ml; 13cRA: 1.77±0.39 ng/ml, n =13) were rather lower than those of healthy subjects (ATRA: 2.08±0.53 ng/ml; 13cRA: 2.05±0.26 ng/ml, n =18), but the differences were not significant, except for the sum of ATRA and 13cRA ( p =0.033). Interestingly, the serum levels of retinoic acids in diabetic patients correlated positively with the hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) values (ATRA: r =0.57, p <0.05; 13cRA: r =0.62, p <0.05). The results warrant further studies on the possible involvement of uncontrolled serum retinoic acids levels in the pathogenesis and/or treatment of diabetes mellitus.
