Summary. Sera from BB Wistar rats and Wistar control rats were evaluated for the presence of islet cell antibodies in a prospective study using an indirect immunofluorescence assay on pancreatic islet cell suspensions from cultured rat islets. Islet cell surface antibodies were detected in sera from all animals of the spontaneously diabetic BB Wistar rat colony. The antibody could be detected well before the clinical onset of the disease and was present throughout the course of study of all diabetic animals. Sera from control Wistar rats were negative when tested for this antibody.Key words: Islet cell surface antibody, BB rat, immunofluorescence, islet culture, cell suspension, pre-diabetes.A number of investigators have reported antibodies in the sera of patients with insulin-dependent diabetes [1][2][3][4][5]. These earlier studies tested a human serum reaction on frozen or fixed sections from blood group 0 cadaveric donor pancreases. This islet cell antibody is reported to bind cytoplasmic antigens only [6,7], and is found in 60%-85% of newly diagnosed patients with insulin-dependent diabetes. The percentage of patients with detectable levels of circulating islet cell antibodies decreases with time [8].More recently, an islet cell surface antibody has been detected in the sera of diabetic patients [6,9]. Islet cell surface antibody is detected in a majority of insulindependent diabetic patients ( > 60%) and is reported to lyse fl cells specifically from newborn rat islets. However, islet cell surface antibody is not diagnostic of insulin-dependent diabetes as it is found also in a significant proportion of first degree relatives (25 %).The spontaneously diabetic BB Wistar rat presents a syndrome with many analogies to the development and expression of insulin-dependent diabetes in man [10,11]. We have been interested in it as a model for examining the role that antibodies to pancreatic islet cells might play in the aetiology of insulin-dependent diabetes, with particular reference to the questions: (1) does the diabetic rat have a circulating antibody specific for a pancreatic islet cell but not present in the normal rat? and (2) if so, does the presence of this antibody precede the onset of the disease? We report here the results of an immunofluorescence study aimed at answering these questions. Materials and Methods Animals and SeraThe BB rat is maintained in our laboratories as a random-bred, closed colony. Animals are kept in an air-conditioned room (20 ~ 50% relative humidity) with a 12-h light/dark cycle, and fed Purina Lab Chow 5001 and water ad libitum. Urinary glucose levels are determined daily on all BB rats using the glucose enzymatic test strip (Tes-Tape, Eli Lilly, Toronto, Canada). Individual rats are classified as diabetic on the basis of a positive glycosuria and they are subsequently maintained on daily PZ1 insulin. At the time of this study the incidence of diabetes in the colony was 70% and the average age of onset 85 days.Eleven diabetic BB rats from seven litters, all diagnosed as diabe...
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