The state of leukocyte adhesiveness/aggregation in the peripheral blood of patients with type 2 diabetes and ischemic vascular disease

White blood cells have a potential role in the pathogenesis of vasculopathy in diabetic patients. We studied the circulating peripheral blood in a cohort of patients with documented ischemic heart or brain disease with and without type 2 diabetes by means of image analysis and flow cytometry. Our study showed that the state of leukocyte adhesiveness/aggregation is slightly increased in those who had concomitant diabetes but that there was no difference regarding the expression of CD11b/CD18 and CD62L antigens on the surface of the peripheral blood white blood cells. The finding of a significantly increased number of white blood cells in the peripheral blood of patients with ischemic vascular diseases is important insofar as it is associated with a poorer prognosis.