title: Predisposing effect of anti-beta cell autoimmune process in NOD mice on the induction of diabetes by environmental insults.
abstract: In NOD mice. 50-70% of females and 10-20% of males develop diabetes, although almost all the animals show insulitis. To see if environmental insults could induce diabetes in subjects with pre-clinical anti-Beta cell autoimmunity, non-diabetic NOD mice were selected and injected with a sub-diabetogenic dose of streptozotocin at 6 or 20 weeks of age. The streptozotocin failed to induce diabetes in 16 male and 16 female NOD mice within 4 weeks when they were injected at the age of 6 weeks. In contrast, 6 of 16 male and 10 of 16 female NOD mice developed diabetes within 4 weeks when they were injected at the age of 20 weeks. In untreated age-matched control NOD mice, none of the male and only 2 of 16 female mice became diabetic during the same 4 week period. On histologic examination, the degree of insulitis in streptozotocin-treated NOD mice (at the age of 24 weeks) was not significantly different from that of untreated control NOD mice. However, the streptozotocin-treated animals showed significantly lower pancreatic insulin content than the control mice. These results show that an anti-Beta cell autoimmune process in NOD mice has a predisposing effect on the induction of diabetes by a sub-diabetogenic dose of streptozotocin, and suggest that the precipitation of clinical diabetes by some environmental insults in subjects with pre-existing pre-clinical autoimmune Beta-cell destruction may be one mechanism of disease presentation in human Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes.
authors: Division of Virology, Julia McFarlane Diabetes Research Centre, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
authors: S H
authors: SH
authors: Ihm
authors: K U
authors: KU
authors: Lee
authors: R G
authors: RG
authors: McArthur
authors: J W
authors: JW
authors: Yoon
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000276:immunology*; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D007328:Insulin / Q000032:analysis; D007515:Islets of Langerhans / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D008817:Mice, Mutant Strains; D012016:Reference Values; D013311:Streptozocin
chemical_list: D007328:Insulin; D013311:Streptozocin