•  
  •  
 

Abstract

Type 1 diabetes (T1DM) is an autoimmune disease characterized by systemic inflammation. T1DM patients are at a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and chronic inflammation, and this is reflected by increased levels of circulating pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α. However, the time point at which these pro-inflammatory cytokines become elevated is not known. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the concentration of circulating pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α in the early stage of T1DM. METHODS: We injected (i.p) 50mg/kg of Streptozotocin (STZ) or the vehicle (CTL) into male and female Sprague Dawley rats and waited one to three weeks before drawing blood. Blood was drawn from the carotid artery into a serum separator vacutainer, centrifuged, and then the serum was aliquoted into tubes and frozen at -80°C for subsequent batch analyses. A rat cytokine multiplex kit (RADPKMAG, EMD Millipore) was used to determine cytokine concentrations in the aliquoted samples. Samples were analyzed using a Luminex 200 instrument (Luminex Corp) according to manufacturer’s instructions. RESULTS: STZ rats had significantly higher blood glucose (CTL=200±15 mg/dl, n=14; STZ=523±14 mg/dl; n=14; p0.05) and TNF-α (STZ: 15.6±12 pg/ml, n=14; CTL: 14.3±9 pg/ml, n=13, p>0.05) were not significantly different between STZ and CTL. CONCLUSION: We conclude that serum IL-6 concentrations are trending toward being greater in the early stage of T1DM. However, serum levels of IL-1β and TNF-α do not appear to be elevated at this stage of the disease. Further studies are needed to determine if concentrations of pro-inflammatory cytokines fluctuate during the progression of the disease.

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.