Evidence that low-grade systemic inflammation can induce islet dysfunction as measured by impaired calcium handling.

In obesity and the early stages of type 2 diabetes (T2D), proinflammatory cytokines are mildly elevated in the systemic circulation. This low-grade systemic inflammation exposes pancreatic islets to these circulating cytokines at much lower levels than seen within the islet during insulitis. These low-dose effects have not been well described. We examined mouse islets treated overnight with a low-dose cytokine combination commonly associated with inflammation (TNF-alpha, IL-1 beta, and IFN-gamma). We then examined islet function primarily using intracellular calcium (Ca(2+)), a key component of insulin secretion and cytokine signaling. Cytokine-treated islets demonstrated several features that suggested dysfunction including excess Ca(2+) in low physiological glucose (3mM), reduced responses to glucose stimulation, and disrupted Ca(2+) oscillations. Interestingly, islets taken from young db/db mice showed similar disruptions in Ca(2+) dynamics as cytokine-treated islets. Additional studies of control islets showed that the cytokine-induced elevation in basal Ca(2+) was due to both greater calcium influx through L-type-calcium-channels and reduced endoplasmic reticulum (ER) calcium storage. Many of these cytokine-induced disruptions could be reproduced by SERCA blockade. Our data suggest that chronic low-grade inflammation produces circulating cytokine levels that are sufficient to induce beta-cell dysfunction and may play a contributing role in beta-cell failure in early T2D.