DIABETES-INDUCED RAT HYPOSENSITIVITY TO COMPOUND-48/80

Rat mortality and contractile responses of isolated tracheas to compound 48/80 from rats made diabetic 4 days before by a single intravenous injection of alloxan and from diabetic rats that had been treated with insulin 6 h before were compared with control animals. Diabetic animals and tracheal segments from diabetic rats were significantly less responsive to compound 48/80 than control and insulin-treated diabetic animals. On the other hand, diabetic animals have a lower quantity of peritoneal mast cells than control rats, and insulin restored the normal quantity of cells in diabetic animals. These data indicate that diabetes elicits an hyposensitivity to compound 48/80, possibly related to a diabetes-induced decrease in the mast cell count.