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Pancreatic Gangliosides Delay the Onset of Insulitis and Hyperglycaemia in the Low‐Dose Streptozotocin Mouse Model
Author(s) -
ANASTASI B.,
TIBERTI C.,
SENSI M.,
PONTE E.,
FILIPPETTI R.,
DOTTA F.,
VECCI E.,
FIORI M. G.,
MARIO U. DI
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.934
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1365-3083
pISSN - 0300-9475
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3083.1993.tb02558.x
Subject(s) - streptozotocin , insulitis , ganglioside , endocrinology , medicine , diabetes mellitus , islet , biology , biochemistry
Gangliosides have been shown to modulate autoimmune phenomena in experimental diabetes. The effects of a pancreatic ganglioside preparation or of a commercial brain ganglioside mixture on the insulitis and blood glucose levels in the low‐dose streptozotocin mouse model of diabetes have been investigated. Fifty‐five C57BL/6J male mice were grouped as follows: Group 1 ( n = 20) was injected intraperitoneally with repeated low doses of streptozotocin; Group 2 ( n = 10) received streptozotocin as above but was also injected with a pancreatic ganglioside preparation equivalent to 2 μg sialic acid 2 h before each streptozotocin dose; Group 3 ( n = 15) received streptozotocin and brain‐derived gangliosides in the same dose as that of pancreatic gangliosides; Group 4 ( n = 10) consisted of normal animals. Half of the mice were killed on day 12 and the others on day 24 from the beginning of treatment. On day 12, among the streptozotocin‐injected animals only those treated with pancreatic gangliosides remained normoglycaemic, whereas on day 24 all streptozotocin mice were hyperglycaemic. Such a result paralleled the data pertaining to insulitis scores. In conclusion, pancreatic gangliosides have a short‐term protective role on the development of diabetes in the low‐dose streptozotocin model, an effect therefore linked to tissue‐related differences in the glycosphingolipid composition.