Administration of alloxan and streptozotocin in Sprague Dawley rats and the challenges in producing diabetes model

Abstract

Alloxan and streptozotocin are the most prominent diabetogenic agents in diabetes research. However, most published reports do not represent the practical importance of their application. The present study evaluated alloxan and streptozotocin with various doses to determine the optimal diabetic model in Sprague Dawley rats. This study also identified the challenges in inducing diabetes using both agents. Every dose of alloxan (120, 150, 180 mg/kg) and streptozotocin (40, 50, 60 mg/kg) was administered through intraperitoneal injection. The results showed that alloxan-induced rats produced the highest mortality at the dose of 180 mg/kg, the highest incidence of diabetes at 150 mg/kg, and the highest induction failure at 120 mg/kg. In streptozotocin-induced rats, the highest mortality was at the dose of 60 mg/kg, the highest incidence of diabetes was at the dose of 50 mg/kg, and the highest diabetes induction failure was at 40 mg/kg. Cases of self-recovery and late diabetes were found in rats that received alloxan. Meanwhile, streptozotocin-induced rats only showed cases of self-recovery, especially at the dose of 40 mg/kg. This study also found differences in blood glucose, body weight, and insulin levels among the groups. This study concluded that induction of 50 mg/kg of streptozotocin resulted in the most ideal diabetic animal model based on low mortality, high induction success rate, and stable hyperglycemia.