DNA excision repair in spontaneously diabetic BB Wistar rats

BB Wistar rats develop a syndrome characterized by spontaneous diabetes mellitus as well as a wide variety of autoimmune, neoplastic, and degenerative disorders which do not occur in the outbred Wistar strain from which they were derived. This syndrome also includes elements of premature ageing (i.e., a markedly shortened lifespan and premature occurrence of diseases associated with ageing). Excision DNA repair capacity which has been reported to be directly proportional to maximal achievable life span was estimated in neonatal BB Wistar and outbred Wistar rats. Excision repair was assayed autoradiographically by determining unscheduled DNA synthesis following UV radiation of passage 3 cultured skin fibroblasts. No difference in excision repair capacity could be demonstrated between the two strains.