Diabetes mellitus is often associated with impotence and hypertension Streptozotocin (STZ) administration is followed by the development of diabetes mellitus, evidenced by glucosuria and hyperglycemia, hyperphagia and polydipsia. Earlier studies reported either [a] normal sexual function (Sachs, et al, ARCH, ANDROL. 9:351-3, 1982), or [b] loss of sexual function (e.g., Steger, et al, ENDOCRINOL. 124:1737-42, 1989). The only major difference in these studies was the supplier of the Sprague-Dawley rats. We now report that STZ (60 mg/kg, ip) is associated with an equivalent degree of hyperglycemia and glucosuria, in Sprague-Dawley rats from Charles River Laboratories (CRL) or from Harlan Sprague Dawley (HSD). However, secondary effects of diabetes were different - [a] in CRL diabetes was associated with a failure to gain weight, whereas in HSD weight loss was observed; [b] in CRL a moderate hypertension was observed at 36 days postSTZ (but not at 28 days), whereas in HSD a moderate hypertension was evident at 42 days (but not at 35 days); [c] in HSD, but not in CRL, severe deficits in copulatory behavior were evident; [d] in HSD, but not in CRL, relative seminal vesicle weights were smaller, whereas relative heart and kidney weights were larger, in STZ-treated rats. These data indicate that there are within strain differences in the nature and degree of the sequelae of physiological changes that occur in untreated diabetes mellitus. (Support: NIH HL02482, GM08037. MH19843; NSF HRD9255157; and DEd P200A40516).
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