Autoregulation of blood flow in subcutaneous tissue was studied at the level of the lateral malleolus in eight long-term Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetic patients with clinical microangiopathy, eight short-term Type 1 diabetic patients without clinical microangiopathy and seven healthy control subjects. Blood flow was measured by the local 133Xenon washout technique. Mean arterial blood pressure was reduced by a maximum of 23 mmHg by elevating the limb above heart level and elevating to a maximum of 70 mmHg by head-up tilt; in the latter position venous pressure was kept constant and low by activation of the leg muscle vein pump (heel raising). Mean arterial blood pressure was thus varied between 60 and 160 mmHg. In normal and short-term diabetic subjects blood flow remained within 10% of control values during the changes in arterial blood pressure. In six of the eight Type 1 diabetic patients with clinical microangiopathy, autoregulation of blood flow was impaired, blood flow changing approximately 20% per 10 mmHg change in arterial blood pressure; the slope of the autoregulation curves was significantly higher compared with the two control groups (p less than 0.02). Resting mean arterial blood pressure was significantly elevated in long-term diabetic patients (median: 107 mmHg) compared with short-term diabetic (median: 85 mmHg) and control subjects (median: 91 mmHg) (p less than 0.01 and p less than 0.02, respectively).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)