Abstract: Objective To evaluate the antihyperglycemic effect of glargine in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type 1 diabetes in rats. Methods Hyperglycemic type 1 diabetic rats were obtained by intravenous injection of 2% STZ at the dose of 58 mg/kg and the success was adjudged by fasting glucose (≥ 16.7 mmol/L) within 3 consecutive days. Subsequently, 75 hyperglycemic rats were divided into five groups randomly and were treated with different doses of glargine, Lantus or control vehicle for 9 weeks, respectively. Meanwhile, a group consisted of 15 euglycemic rats was regarded as the control group and injected with control vehicle as well. Blood glucose levels, body weights, food intake and water intake in chow fed rats were measured weekly. Serum blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine (Cr), total cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG) were determined by automatic analyzer and glycosylated hemoglobin (GHb) was measured by rat glycosylated hemoglobin assay kits. Results Compared with model-control, an increase in body weight and a decrease in food intake were observed in rats treated with different doses of glargine. Also, glycemic levels in glargine group rats began to decline at 1 h post-injection, achieved minimally at 2 h and maintained for the following 8 hours. The reduction of GHb was dose-dependent and the decrease of serum concentration of BUN and TG was significant. Conclusion Glargine, consistent with Lantus, can lower the blood glucose in STZ-induced type 1 diabetic rats remarkably when injected twice daily with the dose of 4~8 IU/kg. It has the potent protection of kidney and regulation of blood lipid by decreasing serum concentration of BUN and TG, and could reduce the risk of diabetes complications by decreasing GHb level, as well.

Key words: streptozotocin (STZ), type 1 diabetes, glargine, glycosylated hemoglobin(GHb)