RESUMO
Phagocytic function of polymorphonuclear leukocytes was studied in patients with insulin-dependent and insulin-independent diabetes. A total of 52 patients were examined; the patients were mainly young, suffering from insulin-dependent diabetes with or without angiopathies. The leukocyte phagocytic activity was studied with the use of the direct method developed by G. I. Podoprigora and V. N. Andreev in 1976. All phagocytosis parameters were shown to be reduced, the relationship between these parameters distorted, and digestion impaired, especially in patients with diabetic functional angiopathy and with the Kimmelstiel-Wilson syndrome. A trial is described of correcting phagocytosis disorders by means of a Biostator apparatus (an artificial pancreas, functioning according to the feedblack principle). Such investigation was the first attempted in this country, no data on the leukocyte phagocytic activity before and after treatment with the use of an artificial pancreas apparatus were reported in foreign literature. Clinical application of the method is described.