Long-term effect of diabetes and pregnancy in the rat.

Islet hyperplasia and B-cell degranulation were found in the fetuses of the third generation from mothers (second generation) born to a diabetic mother (first generation) regardless of the origin of the father, while pancreatic islets were normal in fetuses from control mothers, even when the father was an offspring of a diabetic mother. These data support the hypothesis that in our experimental model overstimulation of the fetal endocrine pancreas results in long-term consequences to the third generation.