Gestational Diabetes Induces Pancreatic Beta-Cells Apoptosis in Adult Rat Offspring/Diabetes Gestacional Induce Apoptosis de Celulas Beta del Pancreas en Crias de Ratas Adultas

Several studies indicated that pancreatic [beta]-cells death occurs in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. This experimental study was designed to determine the effect of gestational diabetes on the [beta]-cellss in 16-week-old rat offspring. By this aim, adult Wistar rats aged 10-12 weeks were randomly allocated in control and diabetic groups. The diabetic group received 40 mg/kg/body weight of streptozotocin (STZ) on day zero of gestation. After delivery, diabetic offspring of GDM mothers and controls at the age of 16 weeks were sacrificed and pancreases harvested and fixed. The number of [beta]-cellss and were counted by Gomori's method staining. Also, apoptosis in pancreas tissue of diabetic and control offspring was detected by TUNEL assay. Results showed a significant reduction in [beta]-cells number in offspring of GDM (p