Transfusions of whole blood prevent spontaneous diabetes mellitus in the BB/W rat.
Weekly transfusions of whole blood from a nondiabetic subline of BB/W rats reduced the incidence of diabetes in susceptible BB/W rats from 39 to 0 percent and the incidence of pancreatic insulitis from 64 to 6 percent. Responsiveness of lymphocytes to concanavalin A was found to be low in rats with diabetes or insulitis. Transfusion restored concanavalin A responsiveness to levels observed in control rats free of diabetes or insulitis. These data suggest that whole blood alters the course of autoimmune BB/W rat diabetes.
D000818:Animals; D001803:Blood Transfusion; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / Q000276:immunology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008264:Macrophages / Q000276:immunology; D051381:Rats; D011922:Rats, Mutant Strains