Experimental Animals最新文献

{"title":"Nicardipine co-administered with medetomidine-midazolam-butorphanol anesthesia attenuates post-anesthetic hypothermia in rats.","authors":"Takeru Sasaki, Masaki Watanabe, Eisuke Hishida, Tomoki Omori, Ryuya Nakagawa, Riyu Inoue, Nobuya Sasaki","doi":"10.1538/expanim.26-0024","DOIUrl":"10.1538/expanim.26-0024","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Medetomidine-midazolam-butorphanol (MMB) anesthesia is widely used in laboratory rodents but is frequently accompanied by peri- and post-anesthetic hypothermia. This study examined whether co-administration of nicardipine could attenuate hypothermia associated with MMB anesthesia in rats, thereby testing the concept that modulation of peripheral vascular tone can complement thermal management. Rats received MMB alone (0Ni) or MMB combined with nicardipine at 0.25 or 0.5 mg/kg. Body temperature was assessed under warmed and non-warmed conditions, and systolic blood pressure (SBP) and heart rate (HR) were monitored to evaluate cardiovascular effects. Under warmed conditions, body temperature profiles did not differ among groups. Under non-warmed conditions, however, nicardipine-treated rats maintained higher body temperatures during recovery, and both nicardipine groups showed significantly higher recovery-phase AUC values than the 0Ni group. Nicardipine did not significantly alter induction or recovery timing. In parallel, nicardipine produced a dose-dependent reduction in SBP and an increase in HR, particularly at 0.5 mg/kg. These findings suggest that nicardipine partially attenuates post-anesthetic hypothermia during recovery from MMB anesthesia under non-warmed conditions and may serve as a complementary approach to thermal management. However, the marked SBP reduction observed at 0.5 mg/kg warrants caution in practical application.</p>","PeriodicalId":12102,"journal":{"name":"Experimental Animals","volume":" ","pages":"397-404"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13669694/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147766674","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Applying pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic concepts from human clinical anesthesia to laboratory animal anesthesia.","authors":"Shinju Obara, Kazumasu Sasaki","doi":"10.1538/expanim.26-0117","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1538/expanim.26-0117","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Human clinical anesthesia, veterinary anesthesia, and laboratory animal anesthesia have advanced through the continued exchange of knowledge and techniques. Propofol is an example of this relationship: it was first evaluated in several animal species during its development and later became a major intravenous anesthetic in human clinical practice. Using propofol in human clinical anesthesia as an example, this review discusses how concepts for assessing anesthetic depth and applying pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic principles in human anesthesia may be applied to laboratory animal anesthesia. In human anesthesia, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) simulations, target-controlled infusion, clinical signs, and processed electroencephalography are used together to estimate and adjust anesthetic effects. These concepts may also be useful in laboratory animal anesthesia, although models developed for humans cannot be directly extrapolated to other animal species. Species-specific differences in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics must be considered. Furthermore, regardless of the species, immobility or the loss of a single reflex does not necessarily guarantee an adequate anesthetic state, particularly when neuromuscular blocking agents are used. Anesthetic agents can also affect the autonomic, cardiovascular, neurologic, inflammatory, immune, and metabolic systems, and may therefore influence experimental outcomes. Given these limitations, PK/PD simulation should be used to support decision-making rather than a substitute for physiological monitoring or separate assessment of hypnosis and nociception. When integrated with drug administration history, physiological variables, behavioral responses, and validated monitoring methods, a PK/PD perspective may help investigators avoid excessive or insufficient anesthesia, improve recovery, standardize experimental conditions, reduce anesthesia-related bias, and support both animal welfare and scientific validity.</p>","PeriodicalId":12102,"journal":{"name":"Experimental Animals","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149126873","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Regional differences in dorsal skin are associated with the onset of adhesive material-induced hair regeneration.","authors":"Tomoyuki Toge, Moyuri Inoue, Ying-Ying Chou, Anna Yoshimura, Sachiko Yamashita-Takeuchi, Kayoko N Kuroishi, Kaori K Gunjikake, Jun J Miyamoto, Takuma Matsubara, Osamu Kaminuma, Tatsuo Kawamoto, Shoichiro Kokabu","doi":"10.1538/expanim.26-0165","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1538/expanim.26-0165","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Dorsal skin is widely used in mouse wound-healing, dermatitis, and hair-cycle models, but is often treated as a uniform site, even though spatial heterogeneity of the hair cycle, such as regenerative hair waves along the body axis, has been reported. We investigated whether adhesive material (cyanoacrylate)-induced hair regeneration, a model we previously reported, shows a reproducible difference in the timing of hair regrowth by position within the dorsal skin. Adhesive material was applied to four regions along the cranial-to-caudal axis of the mouse dorsal skin. Hair regrowth appeared earlier at the cranial sites than at the caudal sites, and this difference persisted through late anagen and the anagen-to-catagen transition. Expression of Hox genes, including Hoxa9, Hoxb9, Hoxc9, Hoxa10, and Hoxc10, was higher at the caudal sites than at the cranial sites but did not correlate with the timing of hair regrowth. The adipogenic genes Pparg and Fabp4 were lower in caudal than in cranial skin. Early after adhesive material application, histological changes and the expression of inflammation- and tissue-repair-related genes also differed between the cranial and caudal skin. These findings indicate that, within this model, the timing of hair-regrowth onset differs reproducibly by cranial-to-caudal position, and that this position should be considered when designing and interpreting hair-regeneration experiments using this model.</p>","PeriodicalId":12102,"journal":{"name":"Experimental Animals","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149126894","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A novel intramyocardial coxsackievirus B3 injection model of viral myocarditis in C57BL/6J mice with reduced pancreatic involvement.","authors":"Ting Zhou, Na Tang, Shou-Jia Wang, Cheng-Wen Li, Han-Wei Yan, Fan Song, Wen-Hui Qi, Ying-Feng Lei, Xiao-Qiang Li","doi":"10.1538/expanim.26-0102","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1538/expanim.26-0102","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Conventional coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3)-induced murine models of viral myocarditis (VMC) are limited by the relative resistance of C57BL/6J mice to CVB3 infection and the prominent pancreatic involvement associated with conventional intraperitoneal inoculation. In this study, a cardiac-targeted CVB3-induced VMC model was established by intramyocardial injection in C57BL/6J mice. Age-dependent susceptibility and the temporal progression of cardiac injury were first evaluated to define experimental conditions. Among the age groups examined, 4-week-old mice exhibited the most pronounced myocardial pathological changes, with peak cardiac injury observed 7 days post-infection. Under these conditions, intramyocardial and intraperitoneal CVB3 inoculation were compared with respect to myocardial histopathology, cardiac function, inflammatory cytokine expression, myocardial injury biomarkers, viral protein (VP1) expression, and pancreatic involvement. Compared with intraperitoneal inoculation, intramyocardial CVB3 administration induced significantly enhanced myocardial inflammatory responses, greater cardiac dysfunction, and higher serum levels of cTn‑T, CK‑MB. Cardiac inflammatory cytokines and VP1 expression were also markedly increased in the intramyocardial group. In contrast, conventional intraperitoneal inoculation produced substantial pancreatic involvement, whereas intramyocardial inoculation markedly reduced pancreatic pathological changes and viral RNA levels while preserving robust myocardial injury. In conclusion, we established a cardiac-targeted CVB3-induced viral myocarditis model in C57BL/6J mice that provides reproducible myocardial inflammation with markedly reduced pancreatic involvement. This model provides a reproducible experimental platform for investigating myocardial inflammatory mechanisms and therapeutic strategies in acute CVB3-induced viral myocarditis while minimizing pancreatic confounding associated with conventional intraperitoneal infection.</p>","PeriodicalId":12102,"journal":{"name":"Experimental Animals","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149126924","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Heterozygous disruption of Snrpf causes post-implantation embryonic lethality with RNA splicing perturbation in mice.","authors":"Ho Tam Nguyen, Natsuki Mikami, Kinari Matsumoto, Taito Taki, Hung Duong Lac, Tra Thi Huong Dinh, Takanori Amano, Akihiro Kuno, Fumihiro Sugiyama, Hayate Suzuki, Seiya Mizuno","doi":"10.1538/expanim.26-0099","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1538/expanim.26-0099","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>RNA splicing is a post-transcriptional modification process of precursor mRNA. This process is regulated by the macromolecular complex known as the spliceosome. One of the major components of spliceosomes is the small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (snRNP). Snrpf encodes SmF, a core protein component of the snRNP. Although SNRPF has been implicated in human disease, its function in vivo remains poorly understood. In this study, we showed that homozygous mutation of Snrpf caused peri-implantation lethality, while heterozygous Snrpf mutant mice exhibited embryonic lethality between implantation and placentation with variable expressivity. The heterozygous mutants exhibited abnormal morphology, delayed formation of the three germ layers, and increased apoptosis. Transcriptome analysis revealed heterozygous mutation of Snrpf altered gene expression, increased intron retention, and caused both exon skipping and exon inclusion. We further found that a subset of exons with shorter lengths and shorter flanking introns was more sensitive to exon inclusion in Snrpf heterozygous mutants. These findings suggested that Snrpf is essential for early embryonic development and required for proper RNA splicing and gene expression. This study provides new insights for future studies of RNA splicing in vivo.</p>","PeriodicalId":12102,"journal":{"name":"Experimental Animals","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149106245","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Characterization of a composite fatigue-like phenotype after Lewis lung carcinoma resection followed by low-dose cisplatin in mice.","authors":"Tongtong Wu, Yutong Zhang, Zichun Yuan, Chia-Hua Kuo, Muhammad Iqbal Choudhary, Guowang Yang, Ganlin Zhang","doi":"10.1538/expanim.26-0177","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1538/expanim.26-0177","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Fatigue-like impairment after cancer surgery occurs within a complex treatment context, yet experimental preparations that incorporate tumor history, resection, and postoperative treatment remain limited. This study characterized a composite fatigue-like phenotype after subcutaneous Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) resection followed by low-dose cisplatin. Male C57BL/6J mice were assigned to Blank, Sham, Surgery, and Model groups (n=10/group). The Surgery group underwent LLC inoculation, complete tumor resection, and postoperative saline, whereas the Model group underwent the same procedures followed by cisplatin (2 mg/kg on postoperative days 1 and 4). Body weight, grip strength, treadmill performance, open-field activity, and hepatic and skeletal muscle glycogen were assessed. Serum IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, and TNF-α were explored in three randomly selected mice per group and in an exploratory clinical cohort comprising 5 postoperative patients with lung cancer and 5 control participants. The Model group exhibited a broader multidomain impairment than the Surgery group, characterized by greater postoperative body-weight loss, reduced motor performance and exercise endurance, altered spontaneous locomotor behavior, and reduced peripheral glycogen stores. In the three mice sampled per group, Model mice also showed higher IL-5 and IL-6 concentrations, lower TNF-α concentrations, and similar IL-10 concentrations. In the human cohort, IL-6 showed higher concentrations in postoperative patients than in controls, directionally consistent with the mouse findings, whereas IL-5 and IL-10 did not show a consistent cross-species pattern. Thus, LLC resection followed by low-dose cisplatin was associated with a multidomain fatigue-like functional phenotype.</p>","PeriodicalId":12102,"journal":{"name":"Experimental Animals","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149106225","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Remimazolam improves survival and attenuates glycocalyx-related injury after hemorrhagic shock in rats.","authors":"Van Khanh Huynh, Soichiro Mimuro, Takuya Niwa, Hiroki Anezaki, Takayuki Katsuragawa, Tsunehisa Sato, Kensuke Kobayashi, Takasumi Katoh, Yoshiki Nakajima","doi":"10.1538/expanim.26-0103","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1538/expanim.26-0103","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Systemic inflammatory activation and endothelial glycocalyx injury contribute to organ dysfunction and poor outcomes after hemorrhagic shock. We investigated whether remimazolam improved survival and attenuated inflammatory activation and glycocalyx-related injury in a rat model of hemorrhagic shock and explored whether these effects were sensitive to flumazenil. Ninety male Sprague-Dawley rats underwent hemorrhagic shock by reducing mean arterial pressure to 40-45 mmHg for 60 minutes, followed by fluid resuscitation. Animals were assigned to five groups: normal saline (Control-S), low-dose remimazolam (LowR, 5 mg/kg), high-dose remimazolam (HighR, 10 mg/kg), high-dose remimazolam with flumazenil (Control-F), and flumazenil alone (Flu). Survival time, serum tumor necrosis factor-α, serum syndecan-1, myocardial glycocalyx thickness, and coverage ratio were evaluated. Survival time differed significantly among the five groups (overall log-rank P=0.00025). Remimazolam was associated with lower serum tumor necrosis factor-α and syndecan-1 levels than those in the control groups. Animal-level TEM analysis showed significant overall group differences in endothelial glycocalyx thickness and coverage ratio, although no adjusted pairwise comparisons reached statistical significance. Remimazolam administration was associated with improved survival, lower tumor necrosis factor-α levels, reduced circulating glycocalyx shedding, and a pattern suggestive of partial structural glycocalyx preservation in this rat model of hemorrhagic shock. Flumazenil co-administration attenuated several remimazolam-associated findings; however, a specific mechanism was not established.</p>","PeriodicalId":12102,"journal":{"name":"Experimental Animals","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149030210","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"In C5-heterozygous intercrosses, the proportion of C5-homozygous-null female offspring exceeds the expected Mendelian ratio.","authors":"Keizo Tokuhiro, Hsi-Hua Chi, Shiena Tanaka, Hina Nozawai, Shoko Fujiyoshi, Rio Tsukamoto, Hiroki Ueno, Sung-Il Lee, Masanori A Murayama","doi":"10.1538/expanim.26-0140","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1538/expanim.26-0140","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The complement system has functions beyond host defense, including roles in development and reproduction. However, the role of complement C5 in fertilization and early embryonic development remains unclear. Here, we investigated the reproductive phenotype of C5-deficient mice on a BALB/c background. C5^-/- mice were fertile and showed no obvious reproductive abnormalities under standard laboratory housing conditions. However, offspring from C5^+/- × C5^+/- mating showed a significant deviation from the expected Mendelian distribution, with an increased proportion of female C5^-/- offspring, whereas male offspring showed no comparable distortion. In vitro fertilization reproduced this skewed ratio which was detectable at the blastocyst stage, suggesting that the underlying mechanism operates during fertilization or preimplantation development. Parent-of-origin analysis further suggested a contribution of maternal C5. During preimplantation development, C5, C5a receptor 1 (C5ar1), and C5a receptor 2 (C5ar2) mRNA levels showed distinct dynamic expression profiles. These findings revealed an unexpected sex- and genotype-dependent reproductive phenotype associated with C5 deficiency and suggest that C5-dependent signaling may contribute to genotype-dependent selection during fertilization or preimplantation development. The dynamic expression of C5a receptors further supports a potential role for C5a signaling in early embryonic development and expands the biological role of complement beyond immune defense to include regulation of mammalian reproduction.</p>","PeriodicalId":12102,"journal":{"name":"Experimental Animals","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148982255","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"IL-17RA deficiency improves diabetic wound healing and is associated with reduced oxidative stress, inflammation, and NF-κB/JMJD3-related signaling.","authors":"Jing-Chun Chen, Yan Yu","doi":"10.1538/expanim.26-0037","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1538/expanim.26-0037","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Diabetic wound healing is delayed by a hostile wound microenvironment characterized by persistent oxidative stress, chronic inflammation, and dysfunction of key reparative cells, including keratinocytes, fibroblasts, endothelial cells, and immune cells. IL-17A/IL-17RA signaling is closely involved in diabetes-associated inflammation, but its role in diabetic wound repair remains incompletely defined. Male C57BL/6NCya-Il17ra knockout and age-matched wild-type (WT) mice were assigned to wild-type non-diabetic (WT-ND), Il17ra knockout non-diabetic (KO-ND), wild-type diabetic (WT-DM), and Il17ra knockout diabetic (KO-DM) groups. Diabetes was induced by streptozotocin, followed by dorsal full-thickness excisional wounding after confirmation of hyperglycemia. STZ-induced diabetic mice exhibited delayed wound closure, lower body weight, and persistently elevated fasting blood glucose. Compared with WT-DM mice, KO-DM mice showed significantly improved wound closure. Il17ra deficiency attenuated diabetes-associated oxidative stress, as indicated by higher SOD, catalase, and GSH levels and lower MDA levels, and reduced systemic and local IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α levels. At the molecular level, KO-DM wounds displayed reduced NF-κB p65 phosphorylation and JMJD3 expression, together with partial restoration of H3K27me3. In parallel, Il17ra deficiency suppressed diabetes-induced expression of Cxcl1, Cxcl5, Ccl20, Itga3, and Timp1 while partially restoring Mmp2 and Fgf2 expression. Histologically, KO-DM wounds showed smaller epithelial gaps, thicker granulation tissue, lower inflammatory scores, and greater collagen deposition than WT-DM wounds. Il17ra deficiency promotes diabetic wound healing and is associated with reduced oxidative stress and inflammation, accompanied by attenuation of NF-κB/JMJD3-related molecular and transcriptional abnormalities.</p>","PeriodicalId":12102,"journal":{"name":"Experimental Animals","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148982265","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Progressive islet remodeling during the prediabetic stage in female SDT rats.","authors":"Nodoka Kagami, Tomohiko Sasase, Kinuko Uno, Noriko Suzuki-Kemuriyama, Masami Shinohara, Takeshi Ohta, Katsuhiro Miyajima, Tatsuya Maekawa","doi":"10.1538/expanim.26-0125","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1538/expanim.26-0125","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Prediabetes represents a critical stage in the progression to type 2 diabetes, during which early alterations in pancreatic islet structure and function occur. We investigated temporal histopathological changes associated with islet remodeling in female Spontaneously Diabetic Torii (SDT) rats, a non-obese type 2 diabetes model. Focusing on structural alterations, fibrosis, altered endocrine cell organization, and pancreatic stellate cell activation. Female SDT and Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were examined between 8 and 40 weeks of age. Blood glucose and plasma insulin levels were measured cross-sectionally in separate groups of animals from 8 to 40 weeks, and oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTTs) were performed between 16 and 24 weeks of age. Pancreatic tissues were evaluated by histopathology, immunohistochemistry, and morphometric analyses. SDT rats exhibited progressive glucose intolerance accompanied by elevated plasma insulin levels during the prediabetic stage, suggesting altered glucose homeostasis. These abnormalities were accompanied by structural alterations of islets, including architectural disruption, enlargement, and intra-islet fibrosis beginning at 18-24 weeks. Representative immunostaining suggested altered organization of insulin- and glucagon-positive endocrine cells within remodeled islets. α-SMA- and desmin-positive stromal cells were observed within fibrotic regions of SDT islets. These findings demonstrate progressive islet remodeling during the prediabetic stage in female SDT rats, characterized by structural disruption, fibrosis, and the presence of α-SMA- and desmin-positive stromal cells within fibrotic islets. These alterations may contribute to early endocrine dysfunction by disrupting the islet microenvironment and cell-cell interactions.</p>","PeriodicalId":12102,"journal":{"name":"Experimental Animals","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148963344","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}