Prevention of diabetes in the NOD mouse by intra-muscular injection of recombinant adeno-associated virus containing the preproinsulin II gene

Abstract

Using the Adeno-associated virus (AAV) as a gene delivery vehicle, we have constructed a recombinant vector containing the full length rat preproinsulin gene (vLP-1). Utilizing the well described non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse model, an experimental group (n = 10) of animals were intramuscularly (IM) injected with 107 rAAV virions containing the insulin gene and compared to a mock-injected control group (n = 10). Blood glucose (glc) was then measured weekly for 16 weeks. Data showed that the experimental group contained 70% euglycemic animals (defined as glc < 200 mg/dL) versus 10% of the control animals (P