Effects of Candida on insulin secretion of human adult pancreatic islets and possible onset of diabetes.

This study aims to determine the origin of Candida contamination of pancreatic tissue cultures, as well as its influence on insulin secretory activity of the pancreatic islets. Pancreatic tissue was obtained after pancreatectomy in patients who had chronic pancreatitis or benign tumours. Islets were isolated under aseptic conditions by a manual method. Microbiological analysis was performed by standard procedures and secretory activity was determined on the first, third and seventh day of cultivation. Insulin stimulation index (SI) on the first day of incubation was 0.665 +/- 0.082 and 0.982 +/- 0.167 for sterile and infected cultures, respectively (expressed as means +/- SE). On the third day of cultivation, the SI for sterile cultures was 0.645 +/- 0.071 while these value were higher in contaminated cultures (1.252 +/- 0.413). On the seventh day, SI was 0.853 +/- 0.032 and 1.239 +/- 0.169 for sterile and infected cultures, respectively (P = 0.05). Analysis of results for the first, third and seventh day of incubation and comparison of both groups showed that SI was 0.721 +/- 0.041 for sterile cultures, while for contaminated cultures it was higher by 37.68% (SI = 1.157 +/- 0.154; P = 0.01). The results show that cell culture contamination originates from an original pancreatic tissue infection, and that Candida can provoke an elevated level of insulin secretion in such patients, thus increasing chances for the onset of diabetes.