Morphological changes in the endocrine pancreas in pregnant rats with experimental diabetes.
This present study has demonstrated that during normal pregnancy in the rat the number of beta-cells is increased (hyperplasia) and the volume of the individual beta-cells is increased (hypertrophy). During experimental diabetes, however, the endocrine pancreas has an impaired capacity to compensate during pregnancy. In the experimental diabetic pregnant rat the beta-cells cannot replicate due to the unfavourable metabolic environment. This could reflect the complications caused by diabetes during human pregnancy.
D000818:Animals; D002452:Cell Count; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D007515:Islets of Langerhans / Q000473:pathology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011254:Pregnancy in Diabetics / Q000473:pathology*; D051381:Rats