[Effects of insulin on the deformability of normal erythrocytes suspended on artificial tampons, in normal plasma and plasma of diabetic patients]. / Effetti dell'insulina sulla deformabilità dei globuli rossi normali sospesi in tampone artificiale, in plasma normale ed in plasma di pazienti diabetici.

ABSTRACT

The effect of different insulin concentrations on the deformability of normal red blood cells resuspended in different media was studied in vitro. Insulin enhances red blood cell deformability measured by the filtration method and the observed increases are directly correlated with insulin concentrations. When red blood cells are resuspended in plasma of diabetic patients, the red blood cell filterability through Nucleopore filters is slower than that observed by resuspending the erythrocytes in normal plasma. This suggests that the plasma of diabetic patients contains an unknown factor able to reduce red blood cell deformability.