Effects of dietary sucrose option on the diabetic syndrome of the eSS rat.

The eSS rat is a model of human spontaneous non-insulin-dependent diabetes. Male eSS rats were divided at the age of 4 months into two groups (eSSA and eSSB), both receiving the usual commercial balanced diet with sucrose also made available to eSSA. Sucrose intake did not imply a higher caloric diet, and no differences were found between groups in body weight and plasma triglyceride levels from 6 to 12 months of age. Sucrose option resulted in lower protein, lipid and carbohydrate intakes in eSSA animals. Plasma glucose values were higher in eSSA at different times of the tolerance curve. Likewise, eSSA kidneys showed significantly higher capsular and glomerular diameters and there was a discrete PAS-positive thickening of their basement membrane. We conclude that prolonged ad libitum sucrose intake, without weight gain, causes a moderate metabolic impairment and renal lesions in the eSS diabetic rat.