Abstract
Cytokines are soluble, antigen non-specific, non-immunoglobulin mediators produced and secreted by blood mononuclear cells interacting in the cellular immune-response. To test the possibility that cytokines participate in the autoimmune destruction of the pancreatic beta-cells leading to insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, isolated human or rat islets of Langerhans were incubated for 7 days with cytokine-rich, cell-free supernatants of blood mononuclear cells from healthy human donors stimulated with or without purified protein derivative of tuberculin or phytohaemagglutinin. Glucose stimulated insulin-release, and contents of insulin and glucagon in islets incubated with cytokine-rich supernatants were markedly reduced. This impairment of islet function was due to a cytotoxic effect of cytokine-rich supernatants as judged by disintegration of normal light-microscopic morphology.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Allergy |
| Volume | 40 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| Pages (from-to) | 424-9 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| ISSN | 0105-4538 |
| Publication status | Published - Aug 1985 |
Keywords
- Animals
- Biological Agents
- Culture Techniques
- Cytokines
- Cytotoxicity, Immunologic
- Glucose
- Humans
- Immunity, Cellular
- Insulin
- Islets of Langerhans
- Male
- Monocytes
- Rats
- Secretory Rate
- Time Factors
