Mortality of diabetic patients is higher than that of the population at large, and results mainly from cardiovascular diseases. The putative mechanisms for the progressive atherosclerosis these patients present are direct toxic effects of glucose upon vasculature, insulin resistance, and the association of diabetes (DM) with other cardiovascular risk factors. The main determinant of the tissue damage caused by DM is hyperglycemia, which results in high intra-cellular glucose, high diacylglycerol (DAG) and activation of protein kinase C (PKC). This review intends to compile the effects of hyperglycemia upon the DAG-PKC pathway, vascular dysfunction related to it, and new perspectives regarding treatment of vascular chronic complications of DM based in the inhibition of this pathway.
Diabetes mellitus; Protein kinase C; Cardiovascular disease; Chronic complications
