Abstract: Objective:To study the protection of chromium-enriched compound acidophilous milk to structure and function of pancreatic islet in alloxen-induced diabetic rats. Methods:Adult Wister rats were given a single shot of alloxan 50 mg/kg. After the diabetic model had been induced by alloxen,20 model rats were randomly divided into diabetes(DM) group and therapy group. In addition,10 normal rats were set up as control group which were treated with intragastric administration of distilled water. While ordinary acidophilous milk and chromium-enriched compound acidophilous milk were administrated for DM group and therapy group respectively. The levels of serum insulin,C-peptide,plasm glucagons and the pathological structure of pancreatic islet were examined. Results Compared with DM group,the concentrations of serum insulin and C-peptid are significantly increased(p<0.01) and the level of plasm glucagons is markedly decreased(p<0.05) in therapy group. Moreover,the results of pathological section and immunohistochemistry demonstrated that the structure and β-cell of pancreatic islet can be damaged by alloxan,which is more obvious in DM group. Conclusion:The impaired structure and function of pancreatic islet in diabetic rats induced by alloxen can be protected noticeably by chromium-enriched compound acidophilous milk.

Key words: acidophilous milk, chromium, rat, diabetes, pancreatic islet