Increased severity of acute Trypanosoma brucei brucei infection in rats with alloxan-induced diabetes.

Twenty rats were made diabetic by treatment with alloxan monohydrate (10% solution, 100 mg/kg body weight). Ten diabetic and ten non-diabetic rats were intraperitoneally infected with the same infective doses of Trypanosoma brucei brucei (Lafia strain). The uninfected controls were ten diabetic and ten non-diabetic rats. The prepatent period was shorter in the diabetics (3.5 +/- 0.5 days) than the non-diabetics (4.2 +/- 0.4 days). Although the infected diabetic and non-diabetic rats had comparable levels of peak parasitaemia, the diabetics had significantly (P < 0.05) higher parasitaemia before this peak. The survival time was shorter (P < 0.05) for the infected diabetics (12.1 +/- 3.2 days) than for the infected non-diabetics (14.8 +/- 1.7 days). The infection did not affect the level of diabetic hyperglycaemia, but caused a more severe anaemia in the diabetics than the non-diabetics, with the percentage decreases in packed cell volume in the diabetics being higher (P < 0.05) from days 3 to 12 post-infection. In conclusion, the pathogenic effects of trypanosome infection may be more severe in rats having alloxan-induced diabetes.