[Late complications of diabetes mellitus-consequence of immunologic reactions?]

164 patients, who required clinical treatment because of newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus or known and metabolically disordered diabetes mellitus, were examined for insulin antibody activities. The results of antibody determinations in serum are compared with late diabetic complications. The time of treatment with insulin and the duration of diabetes were found to be closely correlated with the development of organic complications and insulin antibodies. The symptoms of the late diabetic syndrome are considered to be consequences of an immunological process. Due to the variability of the development of insulin antibodies and late diabetic complications the individual immunological manner of reaction of the organism different antibody properties, and nonspecific immunological processes may be of decisive importance to the clinical development.