Summary
The BB/Wor diabetes-prone rat is an animal model of human insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. In this model of spontaneous autoimmunity, natural killer cells are candidate cytotoxic effector cells, believed to be the mediators of beta-cell cytolysis in vivo. We therefore studied the effects of an anti-natural killer cell monoclonal antibody on the spontaneous development of diabetes in the BB/Wor rat. The 3.2.3 monoclonal antibody recognizes a molecule present on rat natural killer cells and selectively depletes these cells in vivo. Chronic treatment of diabetic-prone rats with 3.2.3 monoclonal antibody cleared circulating phenotypic natural killer cells, depleted in vitro spleen natural killer cell function, and profoundly reduced intra-islet accumulation of 3.2.3+ cells, but did not prevent or delay the onset of diabetes. These results indicate that natural killer cells are not necessary for the development of spontaneous diabetes in BB/Wor rats.
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Ellerman, K., Wrobleski, M., Rabinovitch, A. et al. Natural killer cell depletion and diabetes mellitus in the BB/Wor rat (revisited). Diabetologia 36, 596–601 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00404067
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00404067