Effect of Streptozotocin on Plasma Insulin Levels of Rats and Mice: A Meta-analysis Study

BACKGROUND: In the studies focusing on diabetic organisms, Streprozotocine (STZ) is a frequently used agent to induce diabetes in rats and mice. However the current studies do not represent practical importance of their statistical findings. For showing practical importance of the differences in plasma insulin levels of diabetic rats and mice induced by STZ, there should be a statistical synthesis regarding statistical findings of the studies. AIM: The purpose of this study is to make a meta-analysis of the studies on the effect of STZ on plasma insulin levels in diabetic rats and mice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study 39 effect sizes (37 studies) about levels of plasma insulin were analyzed by calculating individual effect sizes (d) and mean effect size. RESULTS: The effect sizes were between -13.7 and +65.3 and the mean effect size value (+9.33) represented a large effect indicating that STZ was an effective agent to significantly decrease plasma insulin levels of diabetic rats and mice. CONCLUSION: It can be said that the differences in plasma insulin levels between STZ-applied and no application groups has a practical importance in making animal model of diabetes.