[Clinico-morphological characteristics of diabetic nephroangiopathy in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus].

The clinicofunctional characteristics of the kidneys were estimated, biopsy of the kidney and skin with an immunohistochemical study was performed and some immunity values considered in 17 patients with type I diabetes mellitus. The study was performed with respect to the degree of expression of the clinical signs of nephropathy including the preclinical stage, too. Three types of morphological changes in the kidney and skin were singled out. Initial tubuloglomerular disorders occurred at the preclinical stage of nephroangiopathy. The nature of changes in the skin coincided mostly with changes in the kidney lagging behind in some cases. The results confirmed the leading role of metabolic derangements in the genesis of microangiopathies and a necessity of a good compensation of diabetes for its prevention. The immunohistochemical and immunological findings did not make it possible to exclude the immune mechanisms in the development of diabetic nephroangiopathy.