ALLOXAN DIABETES IN THE RAT: RECOVERY FOLLOWING ESTROGEN TREATMENT1

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Abstract
Alloxan diabetic rats were force fed a special diet and treated with estradiol, alone or with insulin, during 6 months. The non treated rats remained diabetic and some of them died during the 6 months'' observation period. Insulin had no curative action, although the animals were in very good condition, and mortality was low. Estradiol alone cured 47% (9 out of 19), especially those with initial hyperglycemia not exceeding 250 mg per cent. Insulin and estradiol together cured 69% (29 out of 42). Regression of diabetes was accompanied by a fall of the insulin requirements from 7 to 0 units per rat per day, in 3 to 4 months of treatment. Histological picture of the pancreas showed practically normal islets of Langerhans, only in the cured rats.