The number of glomeruli in Type 1 (insulin-dependent) and Type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetic patients

Summary The number of glomeruli per kidney in Type 1 (insulin-dependent) and Type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetic patients was estimated by an unbiased stereological method: the fractionator. No significant differences were observed between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetic patients without severe diabetic glomerulopathy and non-diabetic patients. Diabetic patients with proteinuria who were in the early stages of diabetic nephropathy also had a normal number of glomeruli. On the other hand, a subgroup classified as Type 1 diabetic patients with severe diabetic glomerulopathy had significantly less glomeruli compared with Type 1 diabetic patients with mild or no glomerulopathy. A probable explanation is that Type 1 diabetic patients lose glomeruli in relation to the progression of diabetic glomerulopathy. A more theoretical alternative is, however, that development of diabetic glomerulopathy is facilitated by a low number of glomeruli.Presented in part at the first meeting of the European Diabetic Nephropathy Study Group, Pisa, Italy, April 1988, and at the 23rd annual meeting of the Scandinavian Society for the Study of Diabetes, Bergen, Norway, May 1988