Self-recovery in diabetic Sprague Dawley rats induced by intraperitoneal alloxan and streptozotocin

Alloxan and streptozotocin are the most popular diabetogenic agents in assessing antidiabetic activity. Self-recovery, indicated by unstable hyperglycemia conditions in animals induced by those agents, becomes a significant disturbance to accurate examination. This study aimed to evaluate and reveal the self-recovery incidence in Sprague Dawley rats induced with alloxan and streptozotocin. Each dose of alloxan (120, 150, 180 mg/kg) and streptozotocin (40, 50, 60 mg/kg) was administered through intraperitoneal injection. The results showed that each dose of alloxan induced self-recovery incidence. In rats given streptozotocin, self-recovery only occurred at a dose of 40 mg/kg. The other higher doses of streptozotocin induced stable hyperglycemia. Furthermore, this study revealed two types of self-recovery, namely temporary recovery and end recovery. Temporary recovery occurred in rats given alloxan, during end recovery in alloxan and streptozotocin. The examination of insulin levels showed a significant reduction in the temporary recovery and stable diabetic rats compared to the end recovery rats. Besides, the bodyweight of rats was also affected by different incidences of self-recovery. This study recommends paying more attention to the possibility of self-recovery in obtaining animal models of diabetes, emphasizing the determination of suitable diabetogenic agents and proper doses to reduce self-recovery incidences. The finding of temporary recovery in rats receiving alloxan indicates that alloxan induced delayed diabetes in rats.