Brief Reports
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2005. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Aug 14, 2005; 11(30): 4750-4752
Published online Aug 14, 2005. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v11.i30.4750
Expression of interferon inducible protein-10 in pancreas of mice
Dong Li, Su-Wen Zhu, Dong-Juan Liu, Guo-Liang Liu
Dong Li, Department of Infectious Disease, the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, Liaoning Province, China
Su-Wen Zhu, Dong-Juan Liu, Department of Histology and Embryology, the College of Basic Science, China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, Liaoning Province, China
Guo-Liang Liu, Department of Endocrinology, the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, Liaoning Province, China
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Correspondence to: Dr. Dong Li, Department of Infectious Disease, the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, 155 Nanjing Beijie, Shenyang 110001, Liaoning Province, China. ldcmu@yahoo.com.cn
Telephone: +86-24-23256666-6213
Received: March 28, 2005
Revised: April 6, 2005
Accepted: April 11, 2005
Published online: August 14, 2005
Abstract

AIM: To investigate the expression of interferon inducible protein-10 (IP-10) in pancreas of mice and to discuss its possible role in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes.

METHODS: Non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice were used as experiment group and BALB/c mice as non-diabetic prone model. Immunohistochemistry method was used to evaluate the expression of IP-10 in the pancreas of NOD mice and BALB/c mice. Immunoelectron microscope was used to show the location of IP-10 in pancreatic islet β cells.

RESULTS: Pancreatic islets were positively stained in all the NOD mice. Insulitis could be found in mice at the age of 4 wk. The weakly positive results were found in control group with no insulitis. Immunoelectron microscopy further demonstrated that IP-10 was produced by pancreatic β cells and stored in cytoplasm of the cells.

CONCLUSION: IP-10 can be largely produced in pancreatic islets of NOD mice at the age of 2 wk when there is no significant insulitis, and may play an important part in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes by attracting immune cells to infiltrate the pancreatic islets.

Keywords: Interferon inducible Protein-10; Type 1 diabetes; Insulitis