Figure 5.

Aggregated amylin increases IL-1β synthesis in the hearts of rats expressing human amylin in the pancreas. A: Cardiac tissue from HIP rats was analyzed by immunofluorescence imaging with an IL-1β antibody. Myocyte staining for both amylin (green) and IL-1β (red) are readily observed. Scale bars, 20 μm. In contrast, UCD rats and WT rats (negative Ctls) lacked the IL-1β immunoreactivity signal in cardiac myocytes. Scale bars, 20 μm. B: Quantitative RT-PCR data showed elevated IL-1β mRNA levels in heart specimens from HIP rats vs. UCD rats and WT rats. n = 7 samples/group. Data are presented as the mean ± SE. C: Western blot analysis of IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-10 in hearts from HIP, UCD, and WT rats. A representative blot from two independent experiments is shown. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, not statistically significant (n.s.).