Fig. 5.

The protective effect of B:9-23/IFA is mediated by IFNγ and IL-10, but not by IL-4 production. a Percentage of mice developing diabetes upon in vivo neutralisation of IFNγ (light grey line) or IL-10 (dark grey line) after s.c. treatment with insulin B:9-23/IFA of 9-week old NODs. Control, B:9-23/IFA treated with the isotype anti-rat IgG (black line) or PBS/IFA alone (dashed black line) are also depicted. Mice were treated for both neutralising antibodies with two intraperitoneal injections per week, at 10 and 11 weeks of age. Anti-IFNγ (clone XMG1.2), anti-IL-10 (clone JES5-2A5) or isotype control were given to mice (150 µg per animal per injection) i.p. The mice received a total of four antibody injections. b Diabetes progresses normally in Il-4 ^−/− NOD mice (light grey line), similarly to Il-4 ^−/− NOD mice treated with PBS/IFA (dashed black line) and IL4 wild type (WT) controls (black line). Upon B:9-23/IFA immunisation tolerance is achieved irrespective of endogenous IL-4 levels (black line). At least 12 mice were included in each experimental group. p < 0.01 compared with WT