Eman S Abdel-Reheim, Adel Abd-Elmoneim A and Ahmed A Hosni
To date, a variety of experiments were done to get animal models of diabetes types. The current study is a trial to get a Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) model which is comparable to that in human, using a minimal dose of Streptozotocin (STZ). Female albino rats were divided into two groups; one fed Normal Diet (ND) and the other fed Fatty-Sucrosed Diet (FSD) from 60 days of age onward. After five weeks on the diets (pregestational period), rats were mated and STZ (25 mg/kg b.wt.) was injected intraperitoneally to FSD-fed dams at the 7th day of gestation. During pregestational period, FSD-fed rats exhibited significant increase in body weight that reduced significantly after STZ injection in comparable to ND-fed rats. Frank hyperglycemia with mild decrease in serum insulin level of Gestational Diabetic (GD) dams showed a state of insulin resistance that clarified by the increase in Homeostasis Model Assessment Of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) and subsequent decrease in Quantitative Insulin Sensitivity Check Index (QUICKI) values. Also, blood glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and fructosamine were significantly increased while hepatic glycogen content was decreased. In addition, lipid profile of GD-dams showed a significant increase in levels of Triglycerides (TG), total-cholesterol (Total-Ch.), LDL-cholesterol (LDL-Ch.) and vLDL-cholesterol (vLDLCh.) while HDL-cholesterol (HDL-Ch.) was decreased. Furthermore, serum adipokines levels showed a significant increase in leptin and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) while adiponectin level was significantly decreased. On the other hand, the diabetic dams exhibited high rate of implantation loss and impaired fetal glycaemia. In conclusion the combination of FSD and a minimal dose of STZ can effectively induce gestational diabetes analogue to that of human and suitable for further investigations of physiological and molecular abnormalities in GDM.
