TNF PRODUCTION FROM PERIPHERAL-BLOOD MONONUCLEAR-CELLS IN DIABETIC-PATIENTS AFTER STIMULATION WITH ALGINATE AND LIPOPOLYSACCHARIDE

Microencapsulated pancreatic Langerhan's islets in calcium alginate ge ls have been used as an implantable bio-artificial pancreas in the tre atment of diabetes mellitus, but with limited success due to overgrowt h of the capsule with fibroblasts and phagocytes. The authors earlier demonstrated that alginates enriched in mannuronic acid stimulate huma n monocytes to produce high levels of cytokines such as tumour necrosi s factor (TNF), IL-1, IL-6. In this study the authors have measured th e TNF production from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in dif ferent groups of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) patients a fter stimulation with different alginates and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) . It was found that high G-alginate did not induce TNF production in a ny of the groups. High-M alginate and LPS induced a dose-dependent TNF production in all groups and the production was significantly differe nt from unstimulated cells. The highest TNF response was found in newl y diagnosed IDDM patients and the lowest was in the controls.