Effect of repeated stress in early childhood on the onset of diabetes mellitus in male Spontaneously Diabetic Torii rats

Spontaneously Diabetic Torii (SDT) rats were discovered from SD rats and represent a confirmed spontaneous type 2 diabetes mellitus model. We investigated the effect of repeated stress in early childhood on SDT rats fed a high-fat diet, on locomotor activity and on the onset of diabetes mellitus. Regarding stress, a water immersion-restraint stress (WIRS) burden was applied 10 times every other day from 4 weeks of age. The results of the study showed, that the locomotor activity of the young SDT rats was clearly lower than that of the SD rats, and their locomotor activity was inferred to be congenitally low. In addition, the stress-burdened SDT rats showed delayed onset of diabetes mellitus and impaired glucose tolerance compared with the rats not receiving stress burden. The locomotor activity of SDT rats is less than that of SD rats, and they SDT rats are thought to have poor at spontaneous energy expenditure. On the other hand, the feeding efficiency of the WIRS-burdened SDT rats was reduced, and in comparison with the SDT rats with no WIRS burden, energy expenditure was increased; this is suggested to influence the onset of diabetes mellitus.