A new model of diabetic pregnancy with genetic hypertension: Pregnancy in spontaneously hypertensive rats with neonatal streptozotocin-induced diabetes

OBJECTIVE: We designed this study to develop a new animal model of high-risk pregnancy complicated by hypertension and diabetes mellitus. STUDY DESIGN: Female spontaneously hypertensive rats were injected intraperitoneally with 75 mg/kg streptozotocin or vehicle as control at 2 days of age. They were mated with untreated male spontaneously hypertensive rats at 4 to 5 months of age. RESULTS: Hyperglycernia, defined as>20 mmol/L plasma glucose level, was maintained during pregnancy in streptozotocin-treated spontaneously hypertensive rats, and systolic blood pressure was significantly higher in the streptozotocin-treated group than in controls before delivery (p< 0.01). Furthermore, urinary albumin excretion was significantly increased in the streptozotocin-treated group during and after pregnancy compared with the prepregnant level (p< 0.05), whereas in controls it remained unchanged. The incidence of low birth weight was significantly higher in male neonates from streptozotocin-treated mothers than those control mothers (p< 0.05). CONCLUSION: Neonatally streptozotocin-treated spontaneously hypertensive rats may be useful for studying the combined effect of hypertension and diabetes mellitus during pregnancy.