Adipose tissue cellularity in relation to metabolism in juvenile onset diabetes mellitus.

Adipose tissue cellularity was determined by a microscopic method in 18 men suffering from insulin dependent, juvenile diabetes mellitus for several years. These results were set in relation to the degree of clinical control estimated from the average urinary glucose output or fasting blood glucose during the year preceding the investigation. Furthermore, the results were compared with controls of comparable age and of the same sex. Both young and middleaged diabetic men had smaller fat cells than non-diabetic men. Fat cell size was correlated to the degree of clinical control, small fat cells indicating a poor control. It was suggested that fat cell size might be included as a measure of the long-term metabolic control in patients with insulin dependent diabetes mellitus.