标题：The Diabetic State Increases the Activity but Not the Number of Peritoneal Macrophages in the GK Rat Promoting the Tube Formation of Cultured Endothelial Cells in Rat Aorta
摘要：The influence of the diabetic state on the number and activity of intraperitoneal macrophages was investigated in the GK rat. This rat is a model of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and was established from the normal Wistar rat. The cell number of a macrophages preparation in diabetic GK rats (10-15 weeks of age) did not differ from that in normal Wistar rats (9-10 weeks of age). The co-cultured macrophages in diabetic GK rats (9-12 weeks of age) significantly increased the tube formation of aortic endothelial cells (EC) compared with that in age-matched Wistar rats. The conditioned medium obtained from a culture of macrophages from GK rats also increased tube formation more than that from a culture of macrophages from Wistar rats. The effect of macrophages in the GK rat was not influenced by interferon-γ (160 and 460pM), but macrophages in normal rats were activated by these concentrations of interferon-γ. In conclusion, the diabetic state increased the activity but not the number of macrophages in the GK rat, to stimulate tube formation of EC. The tube-forming effect of macrophages in the diabetic state may depend on released factors which differ from that of normal macrophages.
