Increased adhesion to fibronectin and Mo-1 expression by diabetic monocytes

As excessive monocyte adhesion to blood vessel wall could produce endothelial cell injury, we undertook comparative studies on the monocyte adhesiveness in insulin-dependent diabetics with vascular complications (n = 26) and healthy, normal subjects (n = 36). In the diabetic group, the extent of monocyte adhesion on fibronectin- and autologous plasma-coated surfaces was significantly increased compared with that in the control group (p less than 0.01 on both types of surfaces). Monocytes adhesion to the plasma-coated surface, but not to the fibronectin-coated surface, could be inhibited by monoclonal anti-Mo-1 antibody in a dose-dependent manner. For diabetic monocyte adhesion, a higher amount of anti-Mo-1 antibody was required to produce a similar extent of inhibition as observed with control monocytes. This indication of increased Mo-1 expression on diabetic monocytes was further confirmed by analyzing the fluorescence intensity of monocytes labeled with the antibody anti-Mo-1. The results of the present study suggest that diabetic monocytes have increased adhesiveness as the result of increased expression of fibronectin and Mo-1 receptors.