La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, CA, United States of America.
Division of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; Faculty of Odontology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Clin Immunol. 2020 Feb;211:108320. doi: 10.1016/j.clim.2019.108320. Epub 2019 Dec 3.
IL-6 is a pro-inflammatory cytokine upregulated in some autoimmune diseases. The role of IL-6 in the development of type 1 diabetes (T1D) is unclear. Clinical studies are investigating whether tocilizumab (anti-IL-6 receptor) can help preserve beta cell function in patients recently diagnosed with T1D. However, in some rodent models and isolated human islets, IL-6 has been found to have a protective role for beta cells by reducing oxidative stress. Hence, we systematically investigated local tissue expression of IL-6 in human pancreas from non-diabetic, auto-antibody positive donors and donors with T1D and T2D. IL-6 was constitutively expressed by beta and alpha cells regardless of the disease state. However, expression of IL-6 was highly reduced in insulin-deficient islets of donors with T1D, and the expression was then mostly restricted to alpha cells. Our findings suggest that the implication of IL-6 in T1D pathogenesis might be more complex than previously assumed.
白细胞介素 6 (IL-6) 是一种在某些自身免疫性疾病中上调的促炎细胞因子。IL-6 在 1 型糖尿病 (T1D) 发病机制中的作用尚不清楚。临床研究正在调查托珠单抗 (抗 IL-6 受体) 是否有助于保护最近诊断为 T1D 的患者的胰岛β细胞功能。然而,在一些啮齿动物模型和分离的人胰岛中,IL-6 被发现通过减少氧化应激对胰岛β细胞具有保护作用。因此,我们系统地研究了非糖尿病、自身抗体阳性供体和 T1D 和 T2D 供体的人胰腺中局部组织中 IL-6 的表达。IL-6 由β和α细胞组成性表达,与疾病状态无关。然而,在 T1D 供体胰岛素缺乏的胰岛中,IL-6 的表达显著降低,然后主要局限于α细胞。我们的研究结果表明,IL-6 在 T1D 发病机制中的作用可能比之前假设的更为复杂。