Spontaneous hyperglycemia, glycosuria, hypoinsulinemia, and glucose intolerance were observed in some WBN/Kob rats, at about 9 months of age, and in all at the age of 17 months. Females did not present this pathology. Histopathologic examination of the pancreas revealed severe changes in male rats at the age of 3 months. Between 3 and 6 months of age a distinct infiltration of inflammatory cells was found around islets and among adjacent acinar cells. At the same time, marked fibrosis was seen around the pancreatic ducts and blood vessels. With advancing age the fibrous tissue gradually invaded extensive areas of the pancreas where also the islets became involved in fibrotic degeneration. At 17 months of age and later, an obvious decrease in islet number and size (less than 50 mu in diameter) was observed, even in relatively unaffected areas of the organ. Frequent bilateral cataracts began to appear at about 15 months of age. Opacities were first observed in the periphery of the lens, then increased rapidly in intensity and extended centripetally. Nineteen-month-old male rats were hypersensitive to exogenous insulin, but showed no significant decrease in blood glucose level when treated with oral tolbutamide. These results suggest that these rats suffered from a decreased insulinogenic response.
From November 1981 to early March 1982, an outbreak of scleritis and/or iritis occurred among patients treated with a Nipro brand NAC series cellulose acetate capillary dialyzer. The rate of incidence with dialyzers produced in 1982 was significantly higher than that with dialyzers produced in 1981. An extract obtained from the dialyzers caused iritis in rabbits after its infusion into an auricula vein. Glycerol, acetylated carbohydrate (AC) derivatives, urethane derivatives, and polypropyleneglycol were found in the extract. AC derivatives caused iritis in rabbits, whereas they caused hyperemia of the bulbar conjunctiva in dogs. The AC derivatives contained xylose and glucose units in a ratio of 1.6-2.3:1. The amounts of AC derivatives were significantly larger in the extracts from 1982 than from 1981 devices. Moreover, another brand, but the same type, of dialyzer, the Cordis Dow 4000, contained a slight amount of them. These facts show that AC derivatives derived from hemicellulose played a primary role in the outbreak.
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