BACKGROUND: Islet transplantation is potentially a promising therapy for the restoration of carbohydrate control to diabetic patients. However, the global application of islet transplantation requires a ubiquitous source of beta cells. The xenotransplantation of porcine islets would provide such a source. Success in porcine islet xenografting has been achieved in diabetic primates. However, there are few reports of reversal of diabetes with porcine islet xenografts in rodent models of diabetes, relative to the number of successful rodent experiments performed as allografts. Here we report for the first time the inability of porcine (and human) insulin to control blood glucose levels in diabetic rodents determined by a series of dose escalating studies. METHODS: Insulin was administered intravenously to streptozotocin induced diabetic Lewis rats, Balb/c and athymic Balb/c mice (n = 5 per group) at the following doses: Group I "physiological dose" (pd) of 0.16 U/kg for a total dose of 40 mU to a 250 g rat. Group II received 0.64 U/kg (4xpd), group III 1.6 U/kg (10xpd) and group IV 6.4 U/kg (40xpd). Blood glucose levels were monitored in each animal at seven time points: 0 (pre-injection), 10 min, 20 min, 30 min, 45 min, 1 h, 1.5 h, 2 h and 3 h post-injection. Serum insulin levels were also determined. RESULTS: Diabetic Lewis rats achieved a maximum reduction in blood glucose from 22.1 +/- 1.8mmol/l to 8.0 +/- 3.1 mmol/l (a 63.7% reduction), 90 minutes post-injection of 6.4 U/kg dose of porcine insulin (40xpd). Human insulin was less effective at reducing blood glucose levels in rats than porcine insulin (P < 0.001). Porcine insulin reduced blood glucose levels in Balb/c mice from a mean of 18.2 +/- 2.1 mmol/l to a hypoglycemic minimum of 1.26 +/- 0.18 mmol/l a reduction of 93.0%, 60 min post-injection of the maximum dose of 6.4 U/kg. Balb/c mice were significantly more responsive to porcine insulin than Lewis rats at doses of 0.64 U/kg (P < 0.001), 1.6 U/kg (P < 0.05) and 6.4 U/kg (P < 0.001). Athymic Balb/c nude mice reached a maximum reduction in blood glucose from 21.6 +/- 1.8 mmol/l to 3.6 +/- 0.9 mmol/l (a 83.4% reduction) 120 min post-injection at a dose of 6.4 U/kg. Overall, athymic Balb/c nude mice were more resistant to porcine insulin than immunocompetent Balb/c mice at doses of 0.64 U/kg (P < 0.001), 1.6 U/kg (P < 0.001) and 6.4 U/kg (P < 0.05). Insulin diluent alone marginally increased blood glucose levels in all animals tested. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that restoration of normoglycemia in diabetic rodents is not ideal for testing porcine islets xenografts since the reversals of diabetes in these species requires 20 to 40 times the dose of porcine insulin used in humans.