INFLUENCE OF GENETIC BACKGROUND ON THE SUSCEPTIBILITY OF MICE TO DIABETES INDUCED BY ALLOXAN AND ON RECOVERY FROM ALLOXAN DIABETES

Alloxan was administered at dosages of 25 to 100 mg/kg to C57BL/6J (6J) and C57BL/KsJ (KsJ) mice to determine the dose dependence of alloxan-induced diabetes in these strains. KsJ mice were more susceptible to alloxan: the effective dose (ED) with respect to the likelihood of 50% of the treated mice becoming hyperglycaemic by 2 days was 42 mg/ kg for KsJ mice, compared with 59 mg/kg for 6J mice (P<0.001). The dose response curves for the two strains were parallel, and mice receiving equieffective alloxan dosages studied, which were approximately the ED1, ED20, ED80, and ED99, blood glucose levels at 2 days did not differ significantly between KsJ and 6J mice. Although the initial severity of hyperglycaemia and polydipsia was indistinguishable in KsJ and 6J mice administered the ED80 alloxan dosages, there were two major differences in the long term course of their diabetes. First, only 13 of 23 diabetic KsJ mice survived for three months following alloxan administration compared with all 23 diabetic 6J mice (P<0.001). Second, 9 of 23 diabetic 6J mice gradually became normoglycaemic, compared with none of the diabetic KsJ mice (P<0.001). These observations support an earlier hypothesis that these two strains of mice differ in their capacity to adapt to diabetogenic stimuli. © 1979 Springer-Verlag.