Tumor necrosis factor activity of pancreatic islets

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is involved in the pathogenesis of acute sepsis-induced organ injury and has been implicated as a mediator of metabolic alterations observed during sepsis. Pancreatic islet cell function may be significantly compromised during sepsis or endotoxemia, and sepsis also increases plasma levels of epinephrine, a modifier of islet insulin secretion. We proposed that islets exposed to bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) produce TNF and that epinephrine attenuates islet secretory activity. We monitored the effects of LPS and epinephrine on TNF and insulin activity of isolated Wistar-Furth rat islets (pancreas digested with collagenase, islets isolated using Ficoll gradients; n = 4 islet populations, each with 632 +/- 11 islets/2.5 ml culture medium). Islets were incubated (37 degrees C, 5% CO2) 3 days. LPS (Escherichia coli, 1 microgram/ml) and epinephrine (14 micrograms/ml) were added to the islets, and incubations were continued for 1-4 h. Glucose (Beckman Glucose Analyzer), insulin (radioimmunoassay), and TNF (L929 cytotoxicity assay) were measured in the islet medium samples at 1- to 4-h time points. In the conditioned medium, glucose decreased (P < 0.05), insulin increased (P < 0.05), and exposure to LPS did not alter these levels [P = not significant (NS)] but did increase TNF activity by 400% (P < 0.05). Epinephrine reduced insulin by 38-43% (P < 0.05) and TNF by 20-25% (P < 0.05) but had no effect on glucose levels (P = NS). We conclude that insulin is secreted from isolated islets and that exposure to LPS acutely increases islet-derived TNF activity, whereas epinephrine modifies TNF and insulin secretion of rat pancreatic islets.