INSTABILITY OF ALLOXAN-INDUCED DIABETES AND ITS IMPACT ON SEX AND THYROID HORMONES IN MALE WISTAR RATS-A PILOT STUDY

The relationship between diabetes mellitus and sex and/or thyroid hormones has been well documented in both human and animal studies ditto auto-reversibility of alloxan. However, the correlation between unstable diabetes and these hormones has little or no information in the literature; hence, the focus of this study. Diabetes was induced with a single intraperitoneal injection of 150 mg/kg of freshly prepared alloxan. Twenty five adult male Wistar rats (weight 120-150 g) were used in this study. Alloxan was administered to 20 rats and 5 rats served as control. Alloxan-administered rats were further divided into two groups. One group (diabetic rats) was used as diabetic control and the other group served as reversed diabetic, which contained rats whose fasting blood glucose was confirmed to be normoglycemic post-diabetic. All rats were maintained on normal rat feed and water ad libitum and were monitored for 14 days. Blood glucose was monitored at intervals of 7 days after basal (before diabetes induction) and day 1(diabetes confirmation) values had been noted. Sex hormones: Luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), and estrogen (E) as well as thyroid hormones: Triiodothyronine (T3), tetraiodothyronine (T4) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) were assayed after 14 days. Alloxan caused alteration in blood glucose levels of both diabetic and reversed diabetic groups. T4 level was lowered significantly in both diabetic (11.32 ± 0.26 μg/ml) and reversed diabetic (11.00 ± 0.16 μg/ml) groups in relation to the control. Other assayed hormones were not different significantly from the control. These findings indicate that influence of diabetes on these hormones may not be dependent on glucose gradation.