Subcutaneous cyclosporin prevents the development of complete Freund's adjuvant-streptozotocin-induced diabetes in the rat.

The effect of subcutaneous cyclosporin administration (20 mg/kg) on the development of complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA)-streptozotocin-induced diabetes and on the induction of the so called cyclosporine diabetes like syndrome, were examined in Wistar rats. During and 5 weeks after the cyclosporin A treatment (21 days) the rats remained normoglycaemic. Three injections of 30 mg/kg streptozotocin given at weekly intervals, 24 hr after the administration of CFA, produced a persistent hyperglycaemia, an impairment of glucose tolerance and a drastic reduction in the pancreatic insulin content. The development of the diabetic state was prevented by cyclosporin treatment. The present results suggest that the cyclosporin diabetes like syndrome could not appear when cyclosporin was administered subcutaneously at the recommended doses for immunosuppression and that at such therapeutic doses, cyclosporin inhibits the development of CFA-Streptozotocin-induced diabetes in the Wistar rat.