Anti-insulin-antibodies and late diabetic complications

Two hundred and seventy-four insulin-dependent juvenile diabetics were examined. One hundred and sixty-six patients were without late diabetic complications, while 108 patients had one or more complications. At the time of the investigation patients with and without complications were found to have the same insulin requirement. Retrospectively it was observed, that after treatment for 10 years the insulin requirement was significantly higher among patients who had developed complications after treatment for 19 years as compared to patients who after 19 years of treatment had not developed complications. One hundred and eighty-four patients, of which 110 were without and 74 with late diabetic omplications were examined for anti-insulin-antibodies. Patients with complications, especially those with early onset of proliferative retinopathy or nephropathy had a slightly although insignificantly elevated plasma insulin-binding capacity. The frequency of high titres was significantly greater among patients with complications as compared to the frequency in patients without complications. The observations support the assumption, that insulin-anti-insulin-antibody complexes may aggravate the vascular complications.