[Immunologic characterization of patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus with varying duration of disease].

The paper presents data on the cellular and humoral immunity in different periods of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (with the disease standing of 0.5 +/- 0.4 years, group A; 3 +/- 1.8 years, group B; and 15 +/- 4 years, group C). Group A patients presented with the immunity system activation: increased counts of T cells, B lymphocytes, T helpers and T inductors, increased share of active T cells (that is, DR positive ones), elevated content of IgM, IgG, IgA (214 +/- 51 mg%, 1200 +/- 124 mg%, 250 +/- 34 mg%, respectively) as against the reference group (156 +/- 74, 914 +/- 387, 189 +/- 49 mg%, respectively) (p < 0.01). In group B patients, who suffered a longer disease, the immunity parameters were within the normal range, and in group C patients, in whom the disease standing was the longest, these shifts were contrary-wise as against those in group A, that is, T and B cell counts were lowered, as were the counts of T-helpers-inductors, Ig levels, and the phagocytosis index was 65 +/- 5 vs. 85 +/- 10% in the controls (p < 0.05), the phagocytosis level being 4 +/- 2 vs. 10 +/- 2 in the controls (p < 0.05). The authors analyze the association of the HLA system characteristics with the immunity shifts. Patients with the HLA A9, B8, B15, B18, DR3, DR4 presented with significant shifts in the immunity status as against those with the HLA A1, A10, B5, B12, B16, B27, DR5, DR7.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)