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J Sternesjö

Publications and source records attributed to J Sternesjö.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Novel experimental strategies to prevent the development of type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease leading to extensive destruction of the pancreatic beta-cells. Our research focusses on the role of beta-cells during the course of the disease, aiming at finding novel strategies to enhance beta-cell resistance against the cytotoxic damage inflicted by the immune system. Special attention has been paid to the possibility that cytokines released by the immune cells infiltrating the pancreatic islets can directly suppress and kill beta-cells. Certain cytokines (interleukin-1beta, tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interferon-gamma) either alone or in combination, are able to activate signal transduction pathways in beta-cells leading to transcription factor activation and de novo gene expression. In this context, it has been found that induction of inducible nitric oxide synthase mediates an elevated production of nitric oxide, which impairs mitochondrial function and causes DNA damage eventually leading to apoptosis and necrosis. However, other induced proteins SUCH AS heat shock protein 70 and superoxide dismutase may reflect a defense reaction elicited in the beta-cells by the cytokines. Our strategy is to further seek for proteins involved in both destruction and protection of beta-cells. Based on this knowledge, we plan to apply gene therapeutic approaches to increase expression of protective genes in beta-cells. If this is feasible we will then evaluate the function and survival of such modified beta-cells in animal models of type 1 diabetes such as the NOD mouse. The long-term goal for this research line is to find novel approaches to influence beta-cell resistance in humans at risk of developing type 1 diabetes.

Cytokines↗
PubMed1999

Preserved pulsatile insulin release from prediabetic mouse islets.

During the development of type I diabetes, the plasma insulin pattern changes. Because the islet secretory pattern has been implicated in this phenomenon, insulin release was measured from female nonobese diabetic (NOD) mouse islets isolated at different ages. Islets from 5-week-old mice were used as controls because they had no infiltrating mononuclear cells and insulin release rose almost 9-fold with maintained oscillatory frequency when the glucose concentration was raised from 3 to 11 mM. Islets isolated from 13- and 25-week-old mice were infiltrated with mononuclear cells. In these islets, increase in the glucose concentration from 3 to 11 mM only doubled insulin release. However, despite the cellular infiltration, insulin release was pulsatile. Islets from 13-week-old mice had reduced glucose oxidation rate. Culture of such islets for 7 days at 11.1 mM glucose causes a decrease in the number of mononuclear cells infiltrating the islets, which in the present study was accompanied by a normalization of both glucose oxidation and glucose-induced insulin release. In the presence of the mitochondrial substrate alpha-keto-isocaproate (5 mM) both control and infiltrated islets responded with pronounced insulin pulses with similar amplitudes. The results suggest that the deranged plasma insulin pattern observed during the development of type I diabetes may be related to decrease in the insulin pulse amplitude rather than loss of the pulsatile release from the islets.

Aging↗
PubMed1998

Effects of interleukin-12 in vitro on pancreatic islets isolated from normal rodents and from non-obese diabetic mice.

Administration of the T-helper 1 (Th 1) cell promoting cytokine interleukin-12 (IL-12) accelerates the development of autoimmune diabetes in non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice. In this study we examined the effects of IL-12 on isolated islets from NMRI (Naval Medical Research Institute-established) mice, Sprague-Dawley (S-D) rats and NOD mice. NMRI and S-D islets were cultured in medium RPMI 1640 + 10% fetal calf serum and exposed for 48 h to recombinant mouse IL-12 (0, 0.1, 1 and 10 ng/ml). Islet glucose metabolism, as measured by glucose oxidation rate, was suppressed by about 25% in NMRI islets exposed to 10 ng/ml IL-12. In rat islets 0.1 ng/ml IL-12 induced a 20% decrease in glucose oxidation rate. Islets cultured with 10 ng/ml IL-12 showed a decrease in medium insulin accumulation both in mouse and rat. Glucose-stimulated insulin release was lowered in rat islets exposed to 10 ng/ml IL-12, but not affected in NMRI islets. In NMRI islets IL-12 did not influence nitric oxide production as measured by nitrite formation. In rat islets IL-12 induced a decrease in nitrite formation compared with control islets. Islets were isolated from female NOD mice (age 5, 12, 20 and 26 weeks) and examined either immediately or cultured for 7 days with 10 ng/ml IL-12 alone or in combination with 4 ng/ml of the T-cell stimulating cytokine interleukin-2 (IL-2). In the age groups > 5 weeks of age the glucose-stimulated insulin release was lower in freshly isolated compared with cultured control islets. IL-2 + IL-12 addition induced a small decrease in glucose-stimulated insulin release in islets from 12-week-old animals. With increasing age the DNA content in freshly isolated islets increased due to immune cell infiltration. The DNA content in cultured islets was decreased by 40-60% compared with freshly isolated islets in the age groups over 5 weeks. Islet insulin content was similar in both freshly isolated and cultured islets. None of the cytokines, either alone or in combination, affected islet DNA or insulin content. We conclude that IL-12 has minor suppressive effects in vitro on normal rodent islets. It is likely that the reported accelerated diabetes development of IL-12 administration to NOD mice in vivo is not mediated by a direct toxic effect to the islets. The suppressed insulin release in NOD mouse islets treated with IL-2 + IL-12 suggests, however, that the accelerating effect might partly be attributed to stimulation of immune cells present in the insulitic lesion.

Aging↗
PubMed1997

S-methyl-L-thiocitrulline counteracts interleukin 1 beta induced suppression of pancreatic islet function in vitro, but does not protect against multiple low-dose streptozotocin-induced diabetes in vivo.

Nitric oxide, induced by pancreatic islet exposure to cytokines, has been implicated in beta-cell destruction in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. In this context it could be worthwhile to characterize inhibitors of the nitric oxide generating enzyme. For this purpose rat pancreatic islets were cultured for 48 h in medium supplemented without or with 10, 100 or 500 microM of S-methyl-L-thiocitrulline, in the absence or presence of 25 U/ml of interleukin 1 beta (IL-1 beta). S-methyl-L-thiocitrulline alone did not affect the islet glucose oxidation rate, but all concentrations of S-methyl-L-thiocitrulline prevented IL-1 beta induced suppression of the islet glucose metabolism. Moreover, S-methyl-L-thiocitrulline (100 microM) completely protected against cytokine mediated inhibition of medium insulin accumulation, glucose-stimulated insulin release and (pro)insulin biosynthesis. IL-1 beta caused a more than 10-fold increase in medium nitrite production, an indication of nitric oxide production, which was blocked by S-methyl-L-thiocitrulline. Acutely in the absence of IL-1 beta, islet glucose-stimulated insulin release was enhanced by S-methyl-L-thiocitrulline (100 microM). The efficacy of S-methyl-L-thiocitrulline, NG-monomethyl-L-arginine and aminoguanidine in counteracting IL-1 beta induced nitrite formation was also compared. When estimating the half-maximal inhibitory concentration for this effect, it was approximately 10 microM for S-methyl-L-thiocitrulline and about 1000 microM for NG-monomethyl-L-arginine and aminoguanidine. Next, the efficacy of S-methyl-L-thiocitrulline was tested in an animal model of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus i.e. multiple low-dose streptozotocin-induced diabetes in male C57BL/Ks mice (40 mg/kg body weight/day for 5 days). It was found that all groups of mice treated with streptozotocin injections gradually developed hyperglycaemia. Administration of S-methyl-L-thiocitrulline (15 mg/kg body weight/day) either for 6-13 days or for 5-11 days after the first STZ injection could not prevent this effect. Moreover, S-methyl-L-thiocitrulline did not appear to influence the evolution of mononuclear cell infiltration and pancreatic insulitis. Thus the present study shows that S-methyl-L-thiocitrulline can potently block cytokine induced activation of nitric oxide synthase in pancreatic islets, but using the presently adopted administration protocol failed to protect against development of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in vivo.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Interleukin-13 counteracts suppression induced by interleukin-1beta of glucose metabolism but not of insulin secretion in rat pancreatic islets.

The cytokine interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) has been postulated to be involved in beta-cell destruction in IDDM. It has also been suggested that this action by IL-1beta is mediated by nitric oxide (NO) generation. Recently it has been reported that Th2-cell promoting cytokines e.g. interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interleukin-13 (IL-13) can reduce NO formation from activated macrophaghes after cytokine activation. In the present study we examined the effect of IL-13 on IL-1beta suppression of islet function. For this purpose rat pancreatic islets were cultured in medium RPMI 1640 + 10% fetal calf serum and exposed for 42 h to human IL-13 (0. 0.1, 1 and 10 ng/ml) in the presence or absence of human IL-1beta (25 U/ml) during the last 24 h of culture. IL-13 alone did not affect any islet functions during prolonged exposure. The highest concentration of IL-13 counteracted IL-1beta suppression of islet glucose oxidation, but not insulin release. Moreover, IL-13 failed to reduce IL-1beta stimulated NO production, as measured by medium nitrite levels. Acute exposure to IL-13 caused a slight stimulation of islet insulin secretion. When IL-4 (10 ng/ml) was combined with IL-13 no synergistic action of the two cytokines was observed in the counteraction of IL-1beta mediated changes. In conclusion, the present study showed that IL-13 could partially prevent IL-1beta induced inhibition of the glucose metabolism, and this effect appeared to be unrelated to NO levels. So far it has not been possible to demonstrate in vitro that Th2-cell promoting cytokines such as IL-4 and IL-13 can effectively reduce cytokine-induced NO from islet cells, as has been reported for macrophages. However, it cannot be excluded that Th2-cell promoting cytokines can be effective in reducing a Th1-cell mediated anti-beta-cell response in vivo.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Interleukin 4 impairs rat pancreatic islet function in vitro by an action different to that of interleukin 1.

Cytokines, in particular interleukin 1 beta (IL-1 beta), have been implicated in pancreatic beta-cell destruction in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. In the rat prolonged exposure in vitro of islets of IL-1 beta leads to nitric oxide formation, impaired glucose metabolism and inhibition of insulin secretion. Interleukin 4 (IL-4) has been shown to be able to modulate nitric oxide formation in other cell systems. In the present study we have investigated the effect of IL-4 alone and in combination with IL-1 beta on islet cells. For this purpose isolated rat pancreatic islets were cultured for 42 h in medium supplemented with 0, 0.1, 1.0 or 10 ng/ml of human IL-4 in the absence or presence of 25 U/ml of IL-1 beta during the last 24 h of culture. IL-4 alone dose-dependently decreased the islet glucose oxidation rate and the glucose-stimulated insulin release. Furthermore, the cytokine potentiated IL-1 beta-induced reduction in the islet DNA content and (pro)insulin biosynthesis rate. The medium nitrite accumulation, as an index of nitric oxide formation, was not influenced by IL-4 (10 ng/ml) alone, whilst IL-1 beta stimulation of medium nitrite was partly reduced by IL-4. Compared to the action exerted by IL-1 beta the inhibitory action of IL-4 on rat islet function was moderate, and the latter action seems to be independent on nitric oxide production.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Effects of prolonged exposure in vitro to interferon-gamma and tumour necrosis factor-alpha on nitric oxide and insulin production of rat pancreatic islets.

It has been postulated that cytokines may mediate the beta-cell destructive process causing insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. The aim of this investigation was to study cytokine effects on pancreatic islet functions in vitro. For this purpose 5-7 days precultured (medium RPMI 1640 +/- 10% fetal calf serum) rat pancreatic islets were exposed for another 48 h to either culture medium alone or with addition of rat interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma; 1000 U/ml), or human tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha; 1000 U/ml) or a combination of the cytokines. After the culture period the islets were subjected to short-term experiments in the absence of cytokines. Neither the DNA nor the insulin content of the islets were affected by the cytokines alone or by the combination. The combination IFN-gamma + TNF-alpha caused a 5-fold increase in the medium nitrite accumulation, indicating induction of nitric oxide formation. It was found that IFN-gamma reduced medium insulin accumulation and basal insulin secretion at 1.7 mM glucose, without affecting the medium nitrite level. On the other hand, the islet glucose oxidation rate at 16.7 mM glucose and the insulin secretory response to 16.7 mM glucose was normal or even increased when examined after 48 h. TNF-alpha alone had no significant effects. In conclusion, a combination of the cytokines can induce nitric oxide formation and inhibition of insulin production in rat pancreatic islets. However, this effect appears not to be sustained. Moreover, IFN-gamma alone seems to induce changes not related to nitric oxide.

Animals↗