Abstract
The effects of diabetic sera on in vitro production of immunoglobulins in normal human peripheral blood lymphocytes were examined to elucidate whether there are any humoral factors that inhibit immunoglobulin prodution in diabetic patients. Forty-three diabetic patients and 15 normal adults were examined by the immunofluorescent detection of intracytoplasmic immunoglobulin in vitro stimulated with pokeweed mitogen (PWM). Cytoplasmic immunoglobulin production of normal B lymphocytes incubated with diabetic serum samples was significantly decreased (p<0.025) compared with that of control serum. Normal serum restored the impaired cytoplasmic IgG production in diabetic lymphocytes derived from patients under treatment with oral agents and insulin. However, there was no significant difference in the cytoplasmic IgG production of normal lymphocytes between those incubated with dialyzed and non-dialyzed serum samples.
It is concluded that there is some inhibitory factor for cytoplasmic immunoglobulin production in diabetic serum. This factor was assumed to be a high molecular substance.
