Published in Scientific Works. C Series. Veterinary Medicine, Vol. LVIII ISSUE 3
Written by Vlase Ene, Curcă Dumitru
Diabetes mellitus, or simply diabetes, is a group of metabolic diseases in which a organism has high blood sugar, either because the body does not produce enough insulin, or because cells do not respond to the insulin that is produced. This high blood sugar produces the classical symptoms of polyuria (frequent urination), polydipsia (increased thirst) and polyphagia (increased hunger). It is known that some dietary behaviors may increase the likelihood in which certain diseases occur both in humans and animals. The unidirectional diet may alter both the metabolism, as well as the level of some blood components (hormones, sugars, lipids etc.), which may be markers for the incidence of some morbid entities. These concepts may be applied to laboratory animals in order to induce metabolic syndromes in experimental conditions similar to the ones seen in humans. Diabetes in animals most commonly affects middle-aged and older animals and is most common in female dogs and male cats. There are two types of diabetes in animals, uncomplicated diabetes and diabetes with ketoacidosis. When diabetes occurs in young animals, it is often genetic and may occur in related animals. The purpose of the experimental investigations was the possibilities of inducing a hyperglycemic syndrome in mice (C57Bl6 strain) and in rats (Sprague Dawley strain), a syndrome similar to that found in humans after consuming fructose-containing processed foods.Pure substances like casein, maltodextrin, sucrose, fructose, cellulose were used, in two diets: - standard diet according to AIN-93M; - experimental diet consisted in total replacement of the corn starch, of the sucrose and of the maltodextrin with a 60% fructose diet. Compared to the standard diet fed lot, the glucose tolerance was disturbed in the experimental lot after 39 days of feeding with the 60% fructose diet, and glycosuria was detected at female with the two species after 79 days, which may indicate the disturbance of the dietary metabolism, that is characteristic to the hyperglycemic syndrome.
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