title: Thymosin and the spontaneously diabetic BB rat.
abstract: The biological basis for autoimmunity and immunoincompetence in the BB rat has yet to be localized. In spite of normal thymic histology, thymocyte subsets and blastogenesis, thymus gland products (thymosins) have yet to be studied. In the present report, thymus gland function was studied by measuring thymosin alpha 1 levels at one time point in the BB rat compared with control rates, and BB rat responses to exogenous thymosin (Thymosin fraction 5) were observed. At five months of age, BB rats had thymosin alpha 1 levels comparable to Lewis and Wistar furth rats. Thymosin fraction 5 increased the ratio of peripheral blood W3/25 positive to OX8 positive cells, but otherwise had no effect on the BB rats' T-cell immunodeficiency, or frequencies of tissue autoantibodies or insulin-dependent diabetes. Although B-lymphocyte counts were normal in BB rats, splenocyte responses to B-lymphocyte mitogens were depressed. However, thymosin fraction 5 improved the BB rat B-lymphocyte blastogenesis to near normal for Mycoplasma neurolyticum. Coupled with our previous work, our results suggest that the immune derangement in the BB rat resides outside the thymus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville 32610.
authors.forename: W E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Winter
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Robbins
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Elder
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Barrett
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: N K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Maclaren
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000032:analysis / Q000187:drug effects; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000494:pharmacology; D003208:Concanavalin A; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000502:physiology; D009174:Mycoplasma; D051381:Rats; D011913:Rats, Inbred BB / Q000276:immunology*; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew; D011920:Rats, Inbred WF; D000077596:Thymalfasin; D013947:Thymosin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000494:pharmacology; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D003208:Concanavalin A; D013947:Thymosin; D000077596:Thymalfasin