HYPOPHYSITIS IN NON-OBESE DIABETIC MICE AS A NEW TISSUE- SPECIFIC AUTOIMMUNE RESPONSE

MARÍA TAMARA MORENO SOSA; MARTA SOAJE; BELÉN SÁNCHEZ; FLAVIA NEIRA; GISELA PENNACHIO; FLORENCIA YÚDICA SEDANO; ELISA O PIETROBON; MARTA SOAJE; GRACIELA ALMA JAHN; JUAN PABLO MACKERN OVERTI

CABA

Otro; Reunión Conjunta de Sociedades de Biociencia; 2017

Sociedad Argentina de Inmunología, entre otras.

Type 1 diabetes mellitus is a chronic organ-specific autoimmune disease that results from the destruction of beta (β) cells in the pancreatic islets and shows a pronounced leukocyte infiltration in the gland. Non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice develop autoimmune diabetes approximately at 6 months of age in females, providing an experimental model for human Type 1 Diabetes. They also display additional autoreactive immune responses against other glands including the prostate and thyroid. Furthermore, female NOD mice exhibit a lower fertility index compared to wild type mice, that develops approximately at the same time as diabetes. To determine whether the low fertility of NOD mice is caused by an autoimmune response against the hypophysis, we assessed the presence of leukocyte infiltration in the gland. To this end, the presence of CD45+ (panleukocyte) cells in the hypophysis of 3 and 6 months old female BALB/c (control group) and NOD mice was analyzed by flow cytometry. An increase in leukocyte infiltration in the hypophysis from 6 months old NOD mice was observed compared to the controls (0.05±0.04 % BALB/c mice vs 3.2±1.0% NOD mice; p