PMID: 9416430Jan 7, 1998Paper

Different TH2-TH1 balance in V beta 8 and V beta 6 subsets of splenocytes in NOD females in the early phase of diabetogenesis

Diabetes & Metabolism
C Atlan-GepnerB Vialettes

Abstract

Non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice spontaneously develop T-cell-mediated autoimmune diabetes. Initial work on the diabetogenic T-cell repertoire indicated that autoreactive T lymphocytes were polyclonal but that the presence of specific subsets (V beta 8 or V beta 6) might be required for induction of the disease. Further functional analysis of NOD mice T lymphocytes was limited because of the relative anergic state of these cells due to abnormal patterns of cytokine secretion. The purpose of the present study was to establish experimental conditions allowing the exploration of the functional features of minor T-lymphocyte subsets in vitro using low doses of cofactors. The ability of splenocytes to proliferate, respond to, or secrete interleukin-2 and interleukin-4 was explored in young, pre-diabetic or old non-diabetic female NOD mice. No significant bias in T-cell receptor usage was noted in the spleen of these animals, whereas V beta 6 + lymphocytes could be very efficiently stimulated by interleukin-4 and also produce low but detectable amounts of interleukin-4 during the pre-diabetic period in female NOD mice. These results suggest that diabetes induction is preceded by V beta + subset-specific functional changes in the ability...Continue Reading

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Autoimmune Diabetes & Tolerance

Patients with type I diabetes lack insulin-producing beta cells due to the loss of immunological tolerance and autoimmune disease. Discover the latest research on targeting tolerance to prevent diabetes.