THE EFFECT OF HLA AND INSULIN-DEPENDENT DIABETES-MELLITUS ON THE SECRETION LEVELS OF TUMOR NECROSIS FACTORS ALPHA-INTERFERON AND INTERFERON-BETA AND GAMMA-INTERFERON

Tumour necrosis factors alpha and beta (TNF‐α and TNF‐β) and gamma interferon (IFN‐γ) were measured by ELISA in the supernatants of phytohaemagglutinin (PHA)‐activated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNC) from 98 individuals (60 controls and 38 patients with insulin‐dependent diabetes mellitus [IDDM]. The PBMNC were incubated with varying concentrations of PHA (0,1,5, and 10 μg/ml) for 72 h. In our population study we observed a correlation between the levels of secretion of TNF‐α and IFN‐γ but not TNF‐β. The complete data set was analysed by non‐parametric tests, and no associations with HLA phenotypes existed. Reduced levels of TNF‐β, but not TNF‐α or IFN‐γ, secretion were found in IDDM patients stimulated with 1 and 5 μg/ml of PHA (P ‐0.001 and 0.02 respectively). None of the lymphokine secretion levels at any PHA concentration correlated with particular HLA phenotypes. Analysis of the natural log‐transformed data indicated that only for the TNF‐β levels (at 5 μg/ml PHA) could subjects be divided into high and low secretors, which also did not correlate with a particular HLA‐B or ‐DR antigen. Copyright © 1990, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved