Pancreatic islet transplantation in diabetic pregnant rats prevents acquired malformation of the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus in their offspring

Exposure to a diabetic intrauterine environment leads to diabetogenic distu rbances throughout later life in rats. This is accompanied by a fetally acq uired dysplasia of the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus (VMN) which is dec isively involved in the regulation of metabolism. We investigated whether m alformation of the VMN is preventable by normalization of gestational hyper glycaemia. Correction of hyperglycaemia in pregnant streptozotocin-diabetic rats was achieved by pancreatic islet transplantation. The number of neuro ns in the VMN was significantly reduced in adult offspring of non-treated, sham-transplanted mother rats (P < 0.05), but did not differ between offspr ing of islet-transplanted mother rats and offspring of control mothers. In conclusion, prevention of VMN malformation in offspring of islet-transplant ed diabetic mothers might be co-responsible for normalization of their gluc ose homeostasis during life. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rig hts reserved.