Autologous mixed lymphocyte reaction in man. VI. Deficiency of autologous mixed lymphocyte reaction in type I (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus.

Autologous mixed lymphocyte reaction (AMLR) was examined in the peripheral blood from 20 patients with type I (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus. Six of 20 patients demonstrated deficient AMLR when compared to the range for simultaneously studied age and sex matched healthy controls. The kinetics of AMLR with regard to duration of the peak proliferative response was similar to controls, the peak response being on day 6. In allogeneic MLR. T cells from patients responded normally. However, non-T cells from patients were poor stimulators against responder T cells from healthy controls. This study demonstrates a deficiency of AMLR in a subset of patients with type I diabetes that further supports an abnormal immune regulation and might be an important mechanism in the pathogenesis and autoimmune manifestations of type I diabetes.