[Lymphopoiesis in mice with alloxan diabetes in experimental insulin therapy]

The authors studied the proliferative response of central and peripheral lymphoid organs of male BALB/c mice with alloxan diabetes to injections of a zinc-insulin suspension (1 u/mouse/24 hours) given for 1, 3, or 5 days. Insulin therapy failed to compensate the diabetes completely, but normalized to a considerable measure the diminished proliferative activity of the young lymphoid cells of the thymus and bone marrow from the third day of the experiment. Autoradiographic study showed that the thymus of diabetic mice was marked by a significant reduction of the percentage of young lymphoid cells bearing insulin receptors on their surface. The results of the experiments point to insulin dependence of central lymphopoiesis in rats.