The Effects on Offspring of Diabetes Mellitus Induced by Chemical Agents in Rats with Advanced Pregnancy

ABSTRACT Background: Gestational diabetes mellitus is an increasingly frequent metabolic disorder that is important for both baby and mother. New studies on the development and treatment of the disease are required. Objective: To investigate the effects on offspring's survival and the biochemical values of diabetes mellitus, induced by different doses of two chemical agents among 35 rats with advanced pregnancy. Methods: The rats were randomly divided into five groups, with the rats in Group 1 as the control group. Alloxan was administered intraperitoneally at doses of 40 and 60 mg/kg in Groups 2 and 3, respectively. Streptozotocin was injected intraperitoneally at doses of 40 and 60 mg/kg in Groups 4 and 5, respectively. Deliveries were monitored, and offspring numbers, survival rates and congenital anomalies were recorded. At the end of the study, blood was drawn from one female offspring in each group; glucose, total protein, albumin, triglyceride, cholesterol, calcium and phosphorus levels were measured, and inter-group comparisons were made. Diabetic agents administered at various doses prolonged the duration of pregnancy. Results: Offspring's deaths were most frequent in the alloxan groups. The number of offspring mortalities in the streptozotocin group was higher than that of the control group, but lower than that of the alloxan group. No differences in glucose, total protein, albumin, triglyceride, cholesterol, calcium and phosphorus levels were observed between the groups. These results indicate that the female offspring, born from rats with gestational diabetes mellitus induced by different chemicals, were only clinically affected. No effect of the type of chemicals on the results was found. Conclusion: The use of streptozotocin in the studies on female offspring born from rats with gestational diabetes mellitus is recommended.

Effect of gestational diabetes mellitus on testis and pancreatic tissues of male offspring.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) on some reproductive characteristics, testicular and pancreatic oxidative status and pancreatic endocrine receptor densities of male offspring at post-pubertal stage. A total of 36 1-day-old Wistar Albino male offspring including 12 pups of nontreated mothers (control group), 14 pups of 40 mg/kg STZ-injected mothers (STZ-40 group) and 10 pups of 60 mg/kg STZ-injected mothers (STZ-60 group) were used. The offspring were euthanised on post-natal day 60, their blood, reproductive organs and pancreatic tissues were obtained and examined. When compared with the control group, there was a significant decrease in body and absolute reproductive organ weights, serum testosterone level, testicular and pancreatic catalase activities, pancreatic glutathione level, epididymal sperm concentration of both STZ-40 and STZ-60 groups as well as in testicular glutathione level of only STZ-60 group. Significant increases were determined in testicular and pancreatic malondialdehyde level and glutathione peroxidase activity in both groups and in fasting serum glucose of only STZ-60 group in comparison with the control group. Although some histopathological damages were observed in testes of both STZ-40 and STZ-60 groups, there were no detectable differences between the groups in density of insulin, glucagon and somatostatin receptors in pancreas. In conclusion, GDM has negative effects on reproductive efficiency and testicular-pancreatic tissue oxidant/antioxidant balance of male offspring at post-pubertal stage.