In Utero Exposure to 2-Aminoanthracene and Type-1 Diabetes

A recent diabetes report revealed an increased incidence in diabetes including type 1-diabetes (T1D). The increase in the numbers of T1D in-cidences are thought to be related to environmental reasons such as the exposure to environmental chemicals including arylamine 2-aminoan-thracene (2AA). T1D is an inflammatory disease of the pancreatic islet in which insulin-producing beta cells are destroyed by auto-reactive T-cells and monocytic cells. The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which 2AA exposure contributes to T1D. In this proposed study preg-nant Sprague Dawley dams were exposed to different concentrations of 2AA through their diet from gestation through postnatal period. Certain genes that are cytokines and adipokines previously noted to play a sig-nificant role in inflammatory response were analyzed in the pancreas of the pups for alteration. Results showed the over-expression of pro-in-flammatory protein IL-6. Up-regulation of humoral genes IL-7 and IL-21 were also noted. mRNA expression levels of the rest of the proteins were not significantly changed. Pathologic characterization showed no significant changes in the pancreas across control and treated groups. However, reduction in pancreatic islets of the high dose group indicated a loss of cell mass. The study is still ongoing to characterize glucose, in-sulin and level of inflammation. Furthermore, IL-6 protein will be quan-tified via immunoblotting technique. It appears, in utero exposure to the PAH, 2AA increases susceptibility to T1D.