Abstract
Selection of appropriate ages of rats for experimental diabetes mellitus studies has been posing great challenges to researchers as the rats may either not come down with diabetes or may even die upon induction. This study investigated the influence of age as a possible factor affecting successful induction of diabetes mellitus in albino Wistar rats. One hundred male albino Wistar rats of varying ages weighing between 23.63 ± 0.46 g and 279.00 ± 27.00 g and assigned into ten (10) groups of ten rats per group were used for the study. Diabetes was induced in groups 1-9 consisting of rats aged 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17 and 19 weeks respectively by injecting 160 mg/kg of alloxan monohydrate intraperitoneally while group 10 rats (aged 12 weeks) served as normal control. Fasting blood glucose levels and the weights of the rats were determined on 0 h, 24 h, 48 h, 72 h and 96 h post alloxan monohydrate injection. Body conditions and behaviors of the rats were subjectively scored. Results showed that rats in groups 3-9 came down with hyperglycemia 48 h post-alloxan injection. The body conditions and behaviors of groups 3 (aged 7 weeks) and 4 (Aged 9 weeks) rats compared very well (p<0.05) with those of the normal control rats. It was concluded that rats aged 7-9 weeks were most suitable for use in studies involving induction of experimental diabetes mellitus using alloxan monohydrate at the dose of 160 mg/kg intraperitoneally.
Highlights
Diabetes mellitus is an important metabolic disease affecting both man and animal all over the world (Dewanjee et al, 2008)
Diabetes mellitus was induced in rats of groups 1-9 by single intraperitoneal injection of alloxan monohydrate (Sigma Aldrich, UK) at the dose of 160 mg/kg (Venugopal et al, 1998) while rats in-group 10 served as normal control
The fasting blood glucose (FBG) of all the rats in groups 3-9 were lower compared to their corresponding pre-induction values 24 h post alloxan injection
Summary
Diabetes mellitus is an important metabolic disease affecting both man and animal all over the world (Dewanjee et al, 2008). Some of the chemicals used in inducing experimental diabetes include alloxan monohydrate and streptozotocin (Szkudelski et al, 1998). Researchers have proposed different mechanisms involved in the successful induction of experimental diabetes by these chemicals. It is in literature that alloxan monohydrate induces diabetes by destroying the pancreatic beta cells of the islet of langerhans through cascade of mechanisms involving redox pathways (Lenzen et al, 1996; Lenzen, 2008). This will result to reduction in insulin production thereby leading to accumulation of glucose beyond normal values in the blood (hyperglycemia). Similar mechanism of action has been proposed for streptozotocin (Srinivasan and Ramarao, 2007)
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