Study on alteration of white blood cell deformability of NIDDM patients and the influencing factors.

Microfiltration technique was used to measure white blood cell deformability (WCD) in one hundred and thirty patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM or type II). It was found that WCD of the diabetics was significantly decreased compared with fifty controls (P < 0.01) and further reduced with the rise of levels of plasma fibrinogen (Fg), plasma lipid, hemoglobin Alc (HbAlc) and fasting blood glucose (FBG), and also with the increase of age, the duration of diabetes, and the reduction of plasma magnesium concentration. It was shown that the decrease of WCD in diabetes mellitus was closely related to the degree of metabolic disturbance of the failure of diabetic control.