“…There are many reports regarding alterations in the metabolism of arachidonic acid in the cardiovascular system of experimental models of type I or insulin‐dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) (Canga, Sterin‐Borda, Borda, Peredo & Gimeno, 1985; Koltai, Hadhazy, Koszeghy, Ballagi‐Pordany & Pogatsa, 1988; Peredo, Filinger, Sanguinetti, Lorenzo & Adler‐Graschinsky, 1994) and in patients with type II or non‐insulin‐dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) (Lasserre et al ., 2000; Okumura, Imanishi, Yanashita, Yamamura, Kim, Iwao, Tanaka & Fujii, 2000); nevertheless, there are no reports of prostanoid production in vascular preparations from experimental models of NIDDM. The NIDDM is the most frequent form of diabetes (Özturk, Altan & Yildizoglu‐Ari, 1996), and the neonatally streptozotocin (STZ) injected rat is a widely used model of this pathology (Bonner‐Weir, Trent, Honey & Weir, 1981; Jawerbaum, Roselló Catafau, González, Franchi, Gelpi, Novaro, Gómez & Gimeno, 1994). The model is characterized by a mild hyperglycaemia between 1 and 20 mmol l –1 , which develops from 6 weeks of age, and little or absent changes in body weight (Jawerbaum, Roselló Catafau, González, Franchi, Gelpi, Novaro, Gómez & Gimeno, 1995; Hemmings & Spafford, 2000).…”