Studies on diabetes mellitus after ventromedial hypothalamic lesions in adult and aged rats

The signs of obesity and diabetes in 49 adult and 56 aged female Wistar rats were studied following complete and histologically confirms bilateral lesions of ventromedial hypothalamic nuclei. Persistent diabetes was found in 14 out of a total of 56 aged animals, while in a group of 49 adult females only one animal showed definite signs of this disease. In addition, several changes of lipid and glucose metabolism together with increased level of immunoreactive insulin and severe changes in the histological picture of pancreatic islets and beta-cells were observed.