Recovery from Experimental Diabetes Mellitus in Mice after Pancreas Transplantation

Mice made diabetic with alloxan or streptozotocin received subcutaneous transplants of pancreases, which had been ligated six to eight weeks earlier, from three or four isogeneic donors. The course of diabetes in grafted mice was followed by determinations of glucose levels in blood and urine and changes in body weight. Five weeks after transplantation, blood glucose levels were substantially lower in grafted than in nongrafted mice. Recovery from hyperglycemia, defined as a drop in blood glucose below 150 mg./100 mL, was observed only in grafted mice and was greater in streptozotocin- than in alloxan-treated hosts, Normoglycemia was evident in over two thirds of the streptozotocin-treated animals from five weeks after transplantation to the termination of the study (fourteen weeks). The incidence of recovery in alloxan-treated grafted animals was variable, but nevertheless recovery could be demonstrated in comparison to nongrafted controls. Grafted animals returning to normoglycemia showed simultaneously a net gain in body weight and no glycosuria.