Volatile metabolites in sera of normal and diabetic patients.

The profiles of volatile metabolites in serum samples from normal individuals and from individuals with diabetes mellitus with varying degrees of polyneuropathy have been studied. The transevaporator procedure was used to obtain sample extracts which were chromatographed on a highly efficient glass column coated with Silar 10C (106 m x 0.25 mm I.D.). Differences in profiles between normal subjects and diabetic subjects on no drug therapy were noticed. However, correlations between the severity of the neuropathy and the concentrations of certain ketones could not be established. Compounds present both in diabetic and normal sera have been identified by mass spectrometry.