Effect of hormones on pancreatic transplants in both normal and diabetic hamsters

¹ Department of Anatomy, New York Medical College, Flower and Fifth Avenue Hospitals, New York City

Five groups of mature male hamsters were used, each group containing normal and diabetic animals. Each animal received a transplant of neonatal pancreas. One group received no treatment. The other groups received: cortisone before transplantation; cortisone at the time of transplantation; cortisone and insulin; cortisone and growth hormone. It was found that cortisone in normal animals enhances development between the 10th and 24th days, with best results when given before transplantation. Among diabetics, cortisone improved growth but to a lesser degree, best results being obtained when started at the time of transplantation. A combination of cortisone and insulin gave normal animals a significant improvement beginning on the 10th day and continuing for the duration; among diabetics, improvement occurred but to a lesser extent. Although growth hormone significantly enhanced development in normal animals, beginning on the 13th day, the results were no better than after cortisone alone and were significantly inferior to those found after cortisone-insulin treatment. In the diabetic, growth hormone impeded development of the implant.