Biology: why does hyperglycemia damage blood vessels? Part 0

Self-tutoring about why hyperglycemia can damage blood vessels: the tutor investigates.

Hyperglycemia, which means elevated blood sugar, has long been known to cause damage to blood vessels, but how?

A top-down explanation begins as follows:

1. In the cells that line blood vessels, hyperglycemia prolongs the presence of an enzyme called HK2 that metabolizes glucose.
2. However, HK2 also causes the production of a dangerous by-product called MG. MG misforms proteins.
3. The body detects the misformed proteins and starts an inflammatory response, which weakens the vessels and also increases the chance of blood clots.

I hope to follow up with further details.

Source:

sciencedaily.com