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Review| Volume 72, ISSUE 3, P439-450, March 01, 1982

Infection and diabetes: The case for glucose control

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/0002-9343(82)90511-3
Infection and diabetes: The case for glucose control
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      Abstract

      This review summarizes data concerning the host resistance to infection in diabetes and the influence of an acute infection upon the endocrinologic-metabolic status of the diabetic patient. While it is well known that acute infections lead to difficulty in controlling blood sugar levels and that infection is the most frequently documented cause of ketoacidosis, controversy persists as to whether or not patients with diabetes mellitus are more susceptible to infection than age- and sex-matched nondiabetlc control subjects. Our data obtained from the charts of 241 diabetic patients who were being followed as outpatients show a striking direct correlation between the overall prevalence of infection (p < 0.001) and the mean plasma glucose levels (representing three or more fasting glucose determinations taken at times when no evidence of infection existed). There is a significant diminution in intracellular bactericidal activity of leukocytes with Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli in subjects with poorly controlled diabetes in comparison with the control group. Serum opsonic activity for both Staph. aureus and E. coli were significantly lower than in the control subjects. Taken together, the results from published reports as well as our data suggest to us that good control of blood sugar in diabetic patients is a desirable goal in the prevention of certain infections (Candida vaginitis, for example) and to ensure maintenance of normal host defense mechanisms that determine resistance and response to infection.
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      Article Info

      Publication History

      Accepted: September 17, 1981

      Footnotes

      ☆This work was supported in part by grants from the NIH (AM 18522), the Upjohn Company and the Herman Goldman Foundation, NIH Research Career Development Awards K04-AM-00089 (Dr. Rayfield) and K04-AI-70847 (Dr. Keusch) and RR-71 Division of Research Resources, Clinical Research Center, Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

      Identification

      DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0002-9343(82)90511-3

      Copyright

      © 1982 Published by Elsevier Inc.

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