Cytotoxic effect of IFN-gamma plus TNF-alpha on human islet cells.

We have previously reported that the combination of IFN-gamma plus TNF-alpha is able to induce the de novo expression of HLA class II on human beta cells. In the present study, we have investigated the effect of these cytokines, alone or in combination, on the function and viability of human islet cells in vitro. Three hour insulin release was markedly reduced in human islet monolayer cultures after 4 days' exposure to 1000 U/ml of the combination TNF-alpha plus IFN-gamma (36.7 +/- 7.7, % of the control +/- SEM) or to TNF-alpha alone (49.5 +/- 7% of the control) while IFN-gamma had little effect. On direct inspection cell damage was clearly detected only in the cultures treated with TNF-alpha plus IFN-gamma in which staining by indirect immunofluorescence (IFL) for insulin revealed that the number of beta cells was also significantly reduced, thus suggesting a real cytotoxic effect of this cytokine combination. This effect was not beta cell specific since glucagon release and the number of alpha cells were also reduced in the cultures exposed to IFN-gamma plus TNF-alpha. 51Cr release experiments supported the cytoxicity of these cytokines to normal islet cells. There was a time course relationship between class II induction (2 days) and the cytotoxic effect of IFN-gamma plus TNF-alpha (4 days) on the same islet cells. In conclusion, these results indicate that the combination of IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha exerts a cytotoxic effect on human islet cells in vitro.