[Natural killer cells of different immunological phenotypes (CD16+, CD56+ and CD57+) in the blood of patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus].
The method of flow cytometry employing monoclonal antibodies a Leu 7 (CD57), a Leu 11 (CD16) and a NKH-1 (CD56) was used to examine to content of different subpopulations of natural killer cells in the blood of primary patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and in healthy subjects. Patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus showed as compared with healthy persons a lower content of natural killer cells carrying all the examined markers, in particular, CD56. The degree of reduction of the number of natural killer cells of different subpopulations is individual for each patient that, possibly, reflects the diversity of causes leading to development of the disease.