Recommended nomenclature for the spontaneously diabetic syndrome of the BB rat.

In order to standardize the nomenclature of the spontaneously diabetic BB rat, the following are recommended. All rats obtained directly from the Ottawa colony should be designated BB. The term Wistar should not be used, and W should not be added to denote the Wistar derivation. When breeding is commenced elsewhere, each center should add a letter to identify its colony, such as BB/W for the colony in Worcester, Mass. No other colony should use such a designation if it has been published previously. Use of supplementary nomenclature to indicate BB rat lines of high and low incidence or to refer to different stages of the syndrome (potential diabetes, impaired glucose tolerance, overt insulin-dependent diabetes) should remain the discretion of the individual breeder, but should be rigorously defined.