Pyruvate kinase isoenzyme M2 is increased in experimental diabetes and correlates with diabetic neuropathy in patients

Introduction: Pyruvate kinase (PK) catalyzes the conversion of phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) to pyruvate as the last step of glycolysis. The two major PK isoforms, PKM1 and PKM2, show different activity levels, with PKM2 being highly expressed in cancer. PK isoforms mRNA expression was investigated in control and diabetic material from human and mouse in order to investigate whether PKM isoforms show differential expression in diabetes and how this balance affects late diabetic complications. Methods: PKM1 and PKM2 transcription was investigated in hearts, kidneys and sciatic nerves (SN) derived from 3 – 6 months co…