Effect of intrathymic administration of mycobacterial heat shock protein 65 and peptide p277 on the development of diabetes in NOD mice: caution required in vaccination studies

Heat shock protein 65 (hsp65) and a derived peptide, p277, are autoantigens reported in IDDM. I.p. injection of hsp65 reduced diabetes incidence in NOD mice and administration of p277 cured already diabetic mice. Also, intrathymic (i.t.) administration of whole islets or GAD65 prevented diabetes in NOD mice. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether i.t. injection of mycobacterial hsp65 or p277 can prevent diabetes in NOD mice. Three-week-old NOD female mice were injected intrathymically with 50 microg of hsp65 (n=30), 5 microg of p277 (n=30), and PBS (n=29). Diabetes incidence was observed for the following 300 days. Pancreas was then used for histological and immunohistological evaluation. No significant differences in diabetes incidence were observed among the three groups of mice. Interestingly, hsp65-treated mice developed diabetes slightly faster at 177+/-6 days compared to 202+/-8 days (p=0.015) for the p277-treated group and 197+/-7 days (p=0.033) for controls. The insulitis score and average islet size did not differ significantly among the three groups of diabetic mice. Scattered TCR-gamma/delta positive cells were found in the pancreas of all groups of mice. In contrast, a huge infiltrate of TCR-gamma/delta positive cells was detected in four out of eight (50%) p277-diabetic NOD mice. Thus, our data show an earlier onset of diabetes in hsp65-treated mice and no improvement in the incidence with either hsp65 or p277, suggesting that hsp65 acts in a different way from what was reported with GAD65. Caution is advised in future vaccination studies as hsp65 poses a potential danger.