Is gestational diabetes a good predictor of abnormal glucose metabolism among Canadian Aborigines

| 223 diabetic with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). Ox-LDL and IgG/M was absent in non-diabetic subjects but present in all three diabetic groups, increasing with severity of DR. Merged images revealed co-localization of ox-LDL and IgG/M. In cell culture studies, induction of apoptosis by human LDL-IC in human retinal capillary pericytes (HRCP) was assessed. Human LDL-IC (50 mg/L) significantly attenuated viability in HRCP at 6 and 24 hrs. In contrast, rabbit LDLIC and ox-LDL (50 mg/L) did not induce this effect (however ox-LDL also triggered apoptosis, but at higher concentrations). The apoptotic mechanisms were related to PARP pathways and caspase cascade activation. The data suggest a potentially important role for LDLIC, formed after extravasation and oxidation of LDL in the retina, in promoting an early feature of DR, pericyte loss by apoptosis.