Interleukin-2 inducible cytotoxic activity of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

ABSTRACT

The ability of peripheral blood mononuclear cells [PBMNC] from 36 patients with type 2 diabetes and 26 healthy control subjects to acquire cytotoxic properties after in vitro incubation with interleukin-2 [IL-2] was examined. Cytotoxic activity of IL-2 activated PBMNC was measured by 51Cr-release assay from radiolabeled Burkitt lymphoma cells. The percentage of cytotoxicity of PBMNC from diabetic patients was not different from the control group when incubated with medium alone or with IL-2 at a concentration of 0.1 u/ml. Cytotoxic activity of IL-2 activated MNC was similar in all age groups in diabetic as well as controls. The kinetics of MNC activation by IL-2 were similar in the two groups with comparable degrees of activation in response to increasing concentrations of IL-2 and similar time course for activation reaching a maximum after 4-5 days of incubation and gradually decreased