Interleukin-6 Affects Insulin Secretion and Glucose Metabolism of Rat Pancreatic Isletsin Vitro*

Recently it has been postulated that interleukin-1 (IL-1) locally released by infiltrating mononuclear cells may destroy the pancreatic B cells during the development of insulindependent diabetes mellitus. Since IL-1 is a potent inducer of interleukin-6 (IL-6) in various cells, it is conceivable that IL-6 is a second mediator of the IL-1 action. In the present study the effects of IL-6 alone or in combination with IL-1 were studied on pancreatic...