Hereditary hyperglycaemia and pancreatic degeneration in Guinea pigs

In this manuscript we describe two closely related inbred guinea pig strains, maintained at the Central Animal Facility of the Hannover Medical School, which develop a Type 2 diabetes mellitus-like syndrome. Both strains are characterised by a high incidence of hyperglycaemia, early onset and manifestation of hyperglycaemia (3 months of age), non-inflammatory chronic vacuolary degeneration of s-cells in the pancreas, and an opacity of the optic lens. The development of diabetes was monitored by determination of blood glucose concentration and light microscopy of various organs. The measurement of serum insulin revealed a severe decrease. Tentative treatment was done by implantation of a sustained release insulin implant, but showed no impact on the blood glucose concentration within an observation period of 8 weeks. Further functional and genetic studies are needed to verify whether these two strains of guinea pigs make valuable animal models for studying the interacting factors leading to Type 2 diabetes mellitus.