Glucose Tolerance Tests in the Perinatal Rats

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Glucose tolerances in vivo during perinatal days in the rat were studied. Glucose was injected intraperitoneally, and blood sugar levels were determined 0, 0.5, 1, 2, and 3 hr after the glucose challenge. The blood sugar level reached the peak at 0.5 hr in all series of animals. In both the premature newborn rats delivered by Caesarean section on the 22nd day of gestation and 2-day-old rats, the levels declined thereafter, but the decline was relatively slower particularly 1 hr after the glucose challenge than that observed in the adult. Glucagon added to glucose did not enhance the glucose tolerance in the young. In pancreatectomized 2-day-old rats and premature newborn rats born to alloxan-treated mothers, the blood sugar level remained high even 3 hr after the challenge. The results suggest the capacity of the late fetal and early postnatal pancreatic islets for releasing insulin in response to a stimulus of hyperglycemia in vivo.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: