The effect of diabetes on the proliferation of aortic endothelial cells.

Diabetic vascular disease is more severe, diffuse, and accelerated when compared to nondiabetic vascular disease. Endothelial cell injury or alteration in endothelial cell function is hypothesized to be the initial cellular event in the pathophysiology of diabetic vascular disease. We examined the effect of insulin-treated and untreated alloxan diabetes on the proliferation of rabbit aortic endothelial cells in vitro by growing thoracic aortic endothelial cells from alloxan diabetic rabbits in serum obtained from alloxan diabetic rabbits. Diabetes adversely affected the proliferation of aortic endothelial cells; the most significant decrease in cell proliferation was noted in untreated diabetic cells. Crossover studies between endothelial cells and serum from different groups revealed that diabetes slows endothelial proliferation by not only a serum effect but also an intrinsic cellular effect. These observations suggest that diabetes adversely affects the proliferation of aortic endothelial cells by changing cell and serum functions.