CONTINUOUS GLUCOSE MONITORING IN THE FREE-MOVING RAT

The aim of this work was to set up an experimental model of glycemic f luctuations for assessing in the conscious freely moving rat, the perf ormance of a continuous glucose-monitoring system, using a pocket-calc ulator-size electronic control unit and a miniaturized subcutaneous gl ucose sensor. The well-known triphasic glycemic pattern following stre ptozotocin injection (initial peak and secondary hypoglycemia precedin g the establishment of permanent hyperglycemia) was used as a way to o btain spontaneous changes in blood glucose level over a wide concentra tion range. This report demonstrates that streptozotocin injection pro duced highly reproducible changes in the current generated by the sens or: an initial peak and a secondary nadir, during which blood sampling provided the evidence of hyperglycemia associated with immunoreactive hypoinsulinemia, and of hypoglycemia associated with hyperinsulinemia , respectively. This reproducible experimental model should be valuabl e for the assessment of a continuous glucose-monitoring system. Copyri ght (C) 1998 by W.B. Saunders Company.