Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 23, 2025
A Protocol for Constructing a Rat Wound Model of Type 1 Diabetes
Published on: February 17, 2023
Combination of cafeteria diet with intraperitoneally streptozotocin in rats. A type-2 diabetes model
Mirelly Marques Romeiro Santos1, Andressa Carolina Farias Pereira Subtil Cavalcante2, Luane Aparecida do Amaral1
1MSc. Program in Health and Development in the Mid-western Region - Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul - Campo Grande (MS), Brazil.
Purpose:
To develop a model of induction of type-2 diabetes (DM2) by combining low doses of streptozotocin (STZ) and a cafeteria diet.
Methods:
Forty male Wistar rats (200 g) were allocated into four groups: control (non-diabetic, n = 10); STZ 30 mg/kg (diabetic, n = 10); STZ 35 mg/kg (diabetic,n = 10); and STZ 40 mg/kg (diabetic, n = 10). DM2 was induced with a single intraperitoneal injection of STZ after four weeks of cafeteria diet in the three diabetic groups. All animals were evaluated as for anthropometric, and biochemical analyses, as well as liver, kidney and pancreas histological analyses.
Results:
Lower weight gain, higher water intake, higher Lee index, hyperglycemia and modified total protein, urea, alpha-amylase, as well as insulin resistance, hepatic steatosis, pancreas, and kidney injury were observed in animals treated with 35 and 40 mg/kg of STZ.
Conclusions:
The results show that the experimental model using cafeteria diet associated with 35 mg/kg of STZ is a low-cost model and efficient in order to develop DM2, confirmed by the presence of polydipsia, hyperglycemia, altered biochemical tests, insulin resistance and damages to the liver, pancreas and kidney, which is similar to the disease found in humans.
