The effects of maternal diabetes and high sucrose diets on the intrauterine development of rat fetuses.
The effects of streptozotocin (STZ) diabetes, genetically-determined Cohen diabetes, and of high sucrose diets on the intrauterine development of rat fetuses have been studied. The average malformation rate in 9-17-day-old embryos of STZ-diabetic rats fed a 50% sucrose diet was 10.7% and in embryos of genetically-determined Cohen diabetic rats fed a 72% sucrose diet 13.1%. When diabetic rats were fed a regular diet, the malformation rate was reduced in STZ-diabetic animals to 7% and in Cohen diabetic rats to 6.4%. The teratogenic effects of diabetes were more pronounced throughout the embryonic period (days 9-13) than during the fetal period (days 15-17). In STZ-diabetic rats the malformation rate has been reduced from 18.3% during days 9-13 to 1.6% on days 15-17 and in Cohen diabetic rats from 16.8 to 5.8%. The number of resorbed embryos was similar in both embryonic and fetal periods. The embryotoxic effects of diabetes in rats fed a regular diet were higher in Cohen diabetes than in STZ-diabetes. The high sucrose diets alone have no significant embryotoxic or teratogenic effects, but they promoted the teratogenic manifestations of diabetes. The teratogenic effects of diabetes correlated with pathological changes in the visceral yolk sac endoderm.
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D000818:Animals; D000013:Congenital Abnormalities / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / Q000150:complications; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D005314:Embryonic and Fetal Development; D005260:Female; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D011247:Pregnancy; D011254:Pregnancy in Diabetics; D051381:Rats; D013395:Sucrose / Q000008:administration & dosage*
D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates; D013395:Sucrose