Effects of insulin on erythrocyte deformability in diabetics-relationship between erythrocyte deformability and platelet aggregation

Erythrocyte deformability was studied by the filtration technique of Reid & Dormandy using whole blood and washed erythrocytes from insulin-dependent diabetics (IDD) under insulin delivery by an artificial pancreas (AP). The same technique was employed to study deformability in vitro using normal erythrocytes incubated in the presence of insulin. Results of this study show that in IDD the initially poor erythrocyte deformability is improved within hours of insulin administration. Improved deformability was accompanied by increased levels of intra-erythrocyte ATP but without changes in levels of HbG and 23 DPG. Incubation of erythrocytes in medium containing glucose showed that deformability was significantly improved in the presence of insulin. These results indicate that insulin favourably affects erythrocyte deformability in IDD. Before and after 24 hours treatment by AP, platelet aggregation was studied in IDD by the technique of Born using platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and by a modified Breddin technique using PRP, whole blood or whole blood treated by chlorpromazine and mixtures of erythrocytes from IDD with normal PRP. Platelet hyperaggregation was only found in the presence of erythrocytes from untreated diabetics. Chlorpromazine, at a dose (10 μmole) which inhibits haemolysis without inducing platelet hypoaggregation, eliminated the above anomaly. In conclusion, it is conceivable that the insulin-induced correction of poor erythrocyte deformability eliminates excessive fragility of erythrocytes and their haemolysis with release of ADP, thus avoiding platelet hyperaggregation.