Phagocytosis and chemotaxis of macrophages from normal and diabetic mice.

Experiments were designed to study the chemotaxis and phagocytic functions of mouse peritoneal exudate macrophages from normal and chronic diabetic mice. There was no difference in the total number of white blood cells (WBC's), or the total number of any one type of leukocyte (i.e., macrophage, neutrophil) migrating into the casein-induced peritoneal exudate of normal and diabetic mice. In vitro phagocytosis of heat-killed Candida albicans by peritoneal induced macrophages was also similar in both of these groups of mice. No correlation between the percent phagocytosis and blood glucose level within each group was observed. Therefore, the attenuated humoral and cellular immune response which has been previously observed in diabetes cannot be attributed to defects in chemotaxis or phagocytosis as studied using mouse peritoneal macrophages.