Diagnostic sign of hyperglycemia: persistent movement of neutrophil granules

This study describes a functional marker in the blood of diabetics: the motility of neutrophil granules in vitro. When heparinized blood from patients with diabetes mellitus was kept in capillary tubes for 24 hours, a rapid and intense movement of the granules in the neutrophil leucocytes was regularly seen. In blood from normoglycemic diabetics and normal subjects, no granular motion was seen at 24 hours, but in these cases prolonged motion could be induced by the prior addition of glucose.