[Basal blood level of serotonin in diabetes mellitus patients].

Blood serotonin was determined in 184 patients with diabetes mellitus by a biological method. Its average value in diabetics was significantly lower than that of the control healthy subjects. The changes established show a light dependence on sex and age of the patients, duration and type of the disease, blood sugar level and the kind of drug treatment. They are better manifested in the presence of retinopathy versus in its absence, as well as in the presence of proliferative versus non-proliferative one. With the compensation of the diabetes, a tendency to partial normalization of serotonin blood level was observed. The probable causes of serotonin changes established are discussed.