Animal models of diabetic uropathy.
Authors Daneshgari F, Leiter EH, Liu G, Reeder J
Submitted By Firouz Daneshgari on 3/31/2010
Status Published
Journal The Journal of urology
Year 2009
Date Published 12/1/2009
Volume : Pages 182 : S8 - 13
PubMed Reference 19846143
Abstract PURPOSE: Diabetes mellitus is a group of debilitating and costly diseases with
multiple serious complications. Lower urinary tract complications or diabetic
uropathy are among the most common complications of diabetes mellitus,
surpassing widely recognized complications such as neuropathy and nephropathy.
Diabetic uropathy develops in individuals with types 1 and 2 diabetes, and
little is known about the natural history of these common and troublesome
complications. Animal models have the potential to reveal mechanisms and aid in
the development of treatment strategies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We present a
review of available animal models of diabetes mellitus relative to their use in
the study of diabetic uropathy. RESULTS: Large and small animal models of
diabetes mellitus are available. While large animals such as dogs and swine may
closely mirror the human disease in size and phenotype, the time between
diabetic complication onset and development, and associated husbandry
expenditures can make acquiring data on statistically valid sample sizes
prohibitively expensive. In contrast, small animal models (rats and mice) have
much lower expenditures for a larger number of animals and compressed
observation time due to a shorter life span. Also, mice are readily manipulated
genetically to facilitate the isolation of the effect of single genes
(transgenic and knockout mice). Type 1 diabetes mellitus can be induced
chemically with streptozotocin, which is selectively toxic to pancreatic beta
cells. Type 2 diabetes mellitus models have been developed by selective breeding
for hyperglycemia with or without associated obesity. Diabetic uropathy has been
noted in several well characterized, predictable animal models of diabetes
mellitus. CONCLUSIONS: Diabetic uropathy, including diabetic bladder
dysfunction, has been more frequently studied in small animals with type I
diabetes. The recent availability of transgenic models provides a new
opportunity for further studies of diabetic uropathy in mouse models of types I
and II diabetes mellitus.


Investigators with authorship
NameInstitution
Firouz DaneshgariCase Western Reserve
Ed LeiterJackson Laboratory

Complications