Cell-mediated immunity in diabetes mellitus.

  • 1 December 1974
    • journal article
    • Vol. 18  (4) , 461-7
Abstract
The quantified lymphocyte response to phytohaemagglutin (PHA) was investigated in fifty-six control subjects, classed according to age and sex, in twenty-nine insulin-dependent (IDD) and eight non-insulin-dependent diabetics. In nine cases one-way mixed lymphocyte cultures (MLC) were performed using mixed lymphocytes from IDD and paired controls. In the controls, a reduction of the response to PHA was observed with ageing; this was more marked in women than in men. The diabetics gave a greatly impaired response to PHA but only a slightly depressed response in MLC. These anomalies are not influenced by age but by the severity of the diabetes.