Diabetes Mellitus Blog

Diabetes mellitus is a disease with significant morbidity and mortality, so that its effects were studied in relation to the various organs it affects reproductive function without exception. To achieve this, it has resorted to using various animals as experimental models to which they are induced diabetes. Various substances have been reported to induce diabetes in animals, being estretptozotocina (STZ) which has shown greater effectiveness. The STZ is an antibiotic produced by Streptomyces achromogenes, which has selectivity for the pancreatic beta cells, destroying them through DNA fragmentation. It has been shown that STZ diluted in buffer, stabilized for about two hours and stored at 6 º C, has a diabetes-inducing capacity, especially in species such as rats, mice and hamsters. In rats with diabetes induced reproductive abnormalities have been associated with alterations in the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonad, both by decreased secretion of GnRH, as deficient secretion of LH, FSH and prolactin, as well as alterations in the gonadal and production of steroid hormones (testosterone, estrogen and progesterone). This results in male rats, reduced sperm production and the decrease in their mobility. For females, the main changes are greedy atrophy, abnormal folliculogenesis, corpus luteum insufficiency, uterine involution and problems associated with the maintenance of pregnancy. In several studies have found the prevalence of birth defects in the products of rats with STZ-induced diabetes, the most frecuetnes developmental delay, abnormal neural tube closure, cardiac abnormalities and micrognathia, among others.