Active rosette forming T-lymphocytes in diabetes mellitus.

Active rosette forming T lymphocytes (ARTL) represent a subpopulation of T cells with high affinity for sheep erythrocytes. It has been postulated that ARTL reflect the cellular immune status in the human, and in earlier papers we have hypothesized their suppressor activity. In this work ARTL were determined by the method of Wybran. We studied 58 insulin dependent diabetics (IDD), 30 non-insulin dependent diabetics (NIDD) with HbA1c below 8%, and 41 NIDD with HbA1c higher than 8% at the moment of taking the sample. Healthy blood donors were used as controls. We observed a significant decrease of ARTL in IDD at the onset of the disease Normal values were restored from the third month after manifestation ARTL were normal in both groups of NIDD. These findings suggest that insulin may exert an influence on ARTL.