ALLOXAN DIABETES IN THE HAMSTER: ORGAN CHANGES DURING THE FIRST DAY1

Abstract

GAARENSTROOM and Siderius (10) in the symposium, “Experimental Diabetes,” discussed several points which bear directly on our investigation of alloxan diabetes in the hamster. First, they indicate that there is no direct evidence of the causation of the hypoglycemic phase by release of insulin from damaged islets. Second, they suggest that the hypo phase results from the exhaustion of liver glycogen during primary hyperglycemia. Next, concerning the theory that alloxan is primarily stimulatory, they state “A further indication that alloxan stimulates the pancreatic islets during the first hours would be the occurrence of histologically recognizable activity of islet cells.” Lastly, they emphasize that most investigators report only degenerative lesions from observations made several hours after treatment.