A AB BS S T TR RA AC CT T O Ob b j je ec c t ti i v ve e: : In a pre vi o us study we sho wed that red cell de for ma bi lity was dec re a sed in cats with nonin su lin de pen dent di a be tes mel li tus (NIDDM) and it was as so ci a ted with ab nor ma li ti es in va ri o us rhe o lo gi cal para me ters (blo od and plas ma vis co sity, eryt hrocy te de for ma bi lity, h e mo to lo gi cal pa ra me ters) as well as al te ra ti ons in red cell mem bra ne pro te ins. On the ot her hand, the re is li mi ted da ta con cer ning the con tri bu ti on of lymphocy te mem bra ne pro te in ab nor ma li ti es and in cre a sed lymphocy te ri gi dity to im pa i red blo od rhe o logy in di a be tes. In the pre sent study, we ai med to in ves ti ga te lymphocy te de for ma bi lity and al te ra ti ons in lymphocy te mem brane pro te ins in cats with NIDDM. M Ma a t te e r ri i a al l a an nd d M Me et t h ho od ds s: : In this re gard, we analy zed lymphocy te de for ma bi lity in 10 cats with non-in su lin de pen dent di a be tes mel li tus (ma le/fe ma le: 5/5, me an age: 3.08 ± 1.39 ye ars, me an weight: 3.26 ± 1.25 kg.) and 10 he althy con trols (ma le/fe ma le: 6/4, me an age 5.7 ± 1.91 ye ars, me an we ight: 4.56 ± 1.16 kg.) by using the mic ro fil ter tech ni qu e. We al so as ses sed mem bra ne pro te in con tent by so di um do decyl sulfa te-pol yacr yla mi de gel elec trop ho re sis (SDS-PA GE). In ad di ti on, blo od le vels of glu co se, to tal cho les te rol, highden sity li pop ro te in (HDL), low-den sity li pop ro te in (LDL), very low-den sity li pop ro te in (VLDL) and trygli ce ri de we re de ter mi ned. R Re e s su ul lt ts s: : We fo und that lymphocy te ri gi dity () was sig ni fi cantly in cre a sed in cats with NIDDM com pa red to con trols (1.215 ± 0.532 vs. 0.265 ± 0.42; p<0.01). Blo od (3.8 ± 0.1 vs 4.4 ± 0.2; p< 0.001) and plas ma vis co sity (1.2 ± 0.1 vs. 1.4 ± 0.1; p< 0.01) we re sig ni fi cantly hig her in the di a be tic gro up. Blo od le vels of glu co se (99.8 ± 21 mg/dL vs. 177.9 ± 53.2 mg/dL; p< 0.001), to tal cho les te rol (106.4 ± 15.6 mg/dL vs. 183.4 ± 57.8 mg/dL; p< 0.001), LDL (12.1 ± 5.3 mg/dL vs. 24.7 ± 14.6 mg/dL; p< 0.02) and HDL (78.7 ± 9.5 mg/dL vs. 133.4 ± 44.9 mg/dL; p< 0.001) we re sig ni fi cantly hig her in the di a be tic gro up. SDS-PA GE re ve a led that the band which corres ponds to the pro te in with a we ight of 37 kDA had di sap pe a red in cats with NIDDM. C Co on nc c l lu u s si i o on n: : We sug gest that the ob ser ved ab nor ma li ti es in mem bra ne pro te ins may play a ro le in re du ced lymphocy te de for ma bi lity asso ci a ted with di a be tes mel li tus and may ha ve a ro le in in cre a sed blo od vis co sity. K Ke ey y W Wo or rd ds s: : Di a be tes mel li tus; lymphocy tes; he mor he o logy; elec trop ho re sis, pol yacr yla mi de gel Ö ÖZ ZE ET T A Am ma aç ç: : Da ha ön ce ki bir ça lış ma da, in sü lin den ba ğım sız di a be tes mel li tus lu (NIDDM) ke di ler de erit ro sit şekil de ğiş ti re bi lir li ğin de ki azal ma nın mem bran pro te in le ri...