Suspensions of pancreatic islet cells from ob/ob-mice were incubated with Trypan Blue. Microscope photometry showed that apparently viable cells excluded the dye completely, whereas the nuclei of non-viable cells accumulated Trypan Blue by a saturable process. Alloxan rapidly increased the permeability of the plasma membrane in mouse 3-cells; the exclusion of Trypan Blue is a valid and useful measure of islet cell viability following alloxan exposure. The diabetogenic action of alloxan may be mediated by hydroxyl radicals. In several biological systems hydroxyl radicals are formed by an iron-catalyzed reaction between superoxide anion radicals and hydrogen peroxide. To test whether this applies to alloxan diabetogenicity, the effects of superoxide dismutase, catalase, scavengers of hydroxyl radicals, and metal ion chelators were tested (a) in a cell-free radical-generating system and (b) on islets and islet-cells exposed to alloxan In vitro. The effect of longtime-circulating superoxide dismutase injected prior to alloxan was tested on mice in vivo. Luminol chemiluminescence was used to monitor alloxan-dependent radical production. Accumulation of 8^Rb+ and exclusion of Trypan Blue were used as cell viability criteria in isolated mouse islets and islet-cells. Blood glucose was determined to monitor the development of diabetes in living animals. Superoxide dismutase, catalase, scavengers of hydroxyl radicals, and metal ion chelators inhibited the alloxan-dependent chemiluminescence and decreased the toxic effects on Rb+ accumulation or Trypan Blue exclusion in islets and islet-cells. Superoxide dismutase, linked to polyethylene glycol and injected 12 hours before alloxan, largely prevented the development of alloxan diabetes. Alloxan toxicity _in vitro and in vivo seems to depend on the formation of superoxide radicals and hydrogen peroxide which in turn form the noxious hydroxyl radical via an iron-catalyzed Haber-Weiss reaction. As free radicals and hydrogen peroxide can be formed by other chemicals and during inflammation, and inflammation may accompany the outbreak of human diabetes, studies on the beneficiary effects of superoxide dismutase and other scavengers of free radicals in other forms of diabetes seem warranted. / <p>S. 1-38: sammanfattning, s. 39-74: Härtill 6 uppsatser</p> / digitalisering@umu