Study on relationship between erythrocyte filtration and other risk factors in diabetic angiopathy.

Red blood cell filtration test has been performed in 37 insulin dependent diabetics (IDD) and 35 controls matched for age and sex and subdivided into age groups. IDD have been classified according to the presence of vascular complications, either affecting small and/or large vessels, assessed by clinical and instrumental methods. Results evidence a close correlation between age, fibrinogen, smoking and filtration index, both in IDD and in controls. The presence and type of vascular complication in diabetics parallels the increase in the filtration index, being the blood of macroangiopathic diabetics less filtrable than that of non angiopathics and/or controls. Metabolic control, recorded as glycosylated haemoglobin shows a slight correlation with filtration index, while blood glucose of the same specimen does not. Filtration index appears to be an useful datum for assessing angiopathic risk in diabetics. Nineteen IDD have been treated with pentoxifylline, 400 mg per os 3 times daily for 20 days and filtration time, and other metabolic variables have been assessed. Data evidenced a marked improvement in the filtration time without any change in the other metabolic variables suggesting that the effect of this drug is mainly exerted on the RBC deformability and not on plasma viscosity. The drug has been very well tolerated and revealed itself an effective therapeutic mean for influencing RBC filtration, thus preventing angiopathic phenomena.