Effect of insulin on the production and action of interleukin 1

The effect of insulin on the production and action of interleukin 1 (IL-1) was investigated in this study. After being treated with nylon wool to remove adherent cells, the thymocytes showed only a weak response to Con A in the abscence of exogenous IL-1, and this response could not be influenced by insulin. Insulin was able to significantly enhance the response of thymocytes to Con A if the thymocytes were not pre-treated with nylon wool, and it was able to significantly enhance the response of the thymocytes treated with nylon wool to Con A in the presence of exogenous IL-1. It has been demonstrated that insulin could augment the production of IL-1 by macrophages stimulated by LPS. These results suggest that the regulating action of insulin on T cell activation is associated with macrophages or IL-1, and insulin might exert a regulating role on other reactions mediated by IL-1. Furthermore, our results demonstrated that the action of active insulin could be weakened by the presence of inactive insulin.