Spontaneous in vitro immunoglobulin secretion at the diagnosis of insulin-dependent diabetes.
Blood mononuclear cells obtained from 17 newly diagnosed insulin-dependent diabetic (IDDM) patients treated with insulin for 5-7 days were assessed for the number of spontaneous and pokeweed mitogen (PWM)-stimulated immunoglobulin-secreting cells in a reverse haemolytic plaque assay. The spontaneous in vitro immunoglobulin secretion was evanescent and decreased in individual patients within 1-4 months of insulin treatment. Compared to matched controls, 53% (9/17) of the IDDM patients had an elevated spontaneous secretion of immunoglobulin, 41% (7/17) for IgG, 35% (6/17) for IgM, and 35% (6/17) for IgA. The quantities of PWM-stimulated IgG, IgM, or IgA secreting cells in IDDM were comparable to the controls. The IDDM patients with spontaneous immunoglobulin secreting cells had higher fasting C-peptide levels compared to the patients with immunoglobulin-producing cells within the normal range (P less than 0.05). The average titre of islet cell cytoplasmic antibodies was 1:26 in (9 out of 9 were positive) patients with, compared to 1:1 in patients (4 out of 8 were positive) without spontaneous secretion (P = 0.025). These results suggest that the clinical onset of IDDM is associated with a polyclonal B lymphocyte activation and that higher levels of fasting C-peptide islet cell antibodies are associated with this immunoregulatory abnormality.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002648:Child; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006462:Hemolytic Plaque Technique; D006801:Humans; D007070:Immunoglobulin A / Q000096:biosynthesis; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000096:biosynthesis; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000096:biosynthesis; D007136:Immunoglobulins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D009000:Monocytes / Q000276:immunology; D011043:Pokeweed Mitogens / Q000494:pharmacology
D007070:Immunoglobulin A; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M; D007136:Immunoglobulins; D011043:Pokeweed Mitogens