Comparative studies between sodium nitrite and 
isoamyl nitrite in nitrite induced methemoglobin formation of 
diabetic’s blood have been undertaken. First the effect of 
sodium nitrite on human Type 2 diabetics’ blood was 
undertaken using non diabetics’ blood as the control group. 
These studies revealed that diabetics erythrocytes were 
oxidized at apparently the same rate as the control blood 
(P>0.05). The sodium nitrite mean oxidation time ± SEM of 
diabetics blood was 3.5 ± 0.18 min (sample size (n) is 22) 
and the mean oxidation time ± SEM of the non diabetics 
blood was 3.5 ± 0.16 min (n is 22). Next it was revealed that 
diabetics erythrocytes were oxidized by amyl nitrite at a 
significantly greater rate than control erythrocytes (P<0.05). 
The mean oxidation time ± SEM of the diabetics blood was 
1.5 ± 0.05 min (n is 20) whereas the mean oxidation time ± 
SEM of the non diabetics blood was 3.1 ± 0.12 min (n is 20). 
Thus, these studies demonstrate that while diabetics blood 
has
 an
 enhanced susceptibility
 to 
oxidation
 to 
methemoglobin by isoamyl nitrite compared to the control 
group when sodium nitrite is used both diabetics and control 
blood are oxidized at the same rate. This difference could be 
attributed to the fact that sodium nitrite reactions with 
oxyhemoglobin are sigmoidal in nature and involve an 
induction or lag phase, whereas the isoamyl nitrite reactions 
with  oxyhemoglobin are an immediate reaction wherein a 
rectangular hyperbolic curve is generated. This probably means that isoamyl nitrite has greater 
accessibility to the heme crevice especially in the diabetic 
presumably due to glycation induced structural 
modifications present in Hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C).