ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to explore the pathology of vascular complications in diabetes suggest oxidative stress may have a key role in the pathogenesis of vascular complications, both at the microvascular and macrovascular level. There is a clear relationship between oxidative stress and the development of medical complications in diabetes. Hyperglycemia associated with diabetes contributes to oxidative stress and vascular complications by a number of biochemically distinct pathways. Hyperglycemia stimulates release of xanthine oxidase from liver cells into plasma, where the enzyme further contributes to worsening oxidative stress through generation of superoxide ion. Oxidative stress has been implicated in the development of both endothelial dysfunction and insulin resistance. Clinical studies do confirm a parallel with the experimental models in animals, i.e., correlation between insulin resistance and serum markers of oxidative stress in diabetic men. Microvascular complications of diabetes are related to the age of onset and duration of diabetes and to metabolic control.
