[Erythrocyte filterability and treatment with pentoxifylline].

The purpose of our study was to verify the possibility of obtaining a reduction in the erythrocyte filtration rate and an improvement in the O2 tissue uptake in twenty patients suffering from insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and diabetic angiopathy, randomly divided in two groups receiving pentoxifylline (1,200 mg/day for 30 days) or a placebo solution, respectively. The erythrocyte filtration rate decreased in patients treated with pentoxifylline and the difference of erythrocyte filtration rate between the two groups was statistically significant.