## 3 Results  
### Body Weight and Glycemic Characteristics in Diabetic Rats  
According to the data shown in Tables 2 and 3, acute and chronic diabetic rats were characterized by significantly increased blood glucose level compared to the age-matched controls (acute: \(p<0.0001\); chronic: \(p<0.001\)). Their urine glucose level (\(p<0.001\)) and HbA1c level (\(p<0.01\)) were markedly elevated. The insulin treatment during the ten weeks prevented an extremely high blood glucose level; however, it was still twice as high as in the controls. The urine glucose level and the HbA1c level of insulin-treated diabetic rats remained close to that of the control level. In the case of reverted diabetic rats, the blood glucose level was extremely elevated after the onset of diabetes (\(23.7\pm 1.2\) mmol/L); however, during the ten-week experiment the rats recovered spontaneously and their blood glucose level dropped below \(18\) mmol/L, so \(11.3\pm 1.2\) mmol/L was measured on average. A slightly increased HbA1c was detected in reverted diabetic rats.  
The body weight of the animals increased in all groups during both acute (Table 2) and chronic experiments (Table 3); however, this body weight gain was most prominent in the controls and the insulin-treated diabetics.  
The Langerhans islets of pancreatic sections were visualized via double-labeling fluorescent immunohistochemistry against insulin (red) and glucagon (green; Figure 1). Weaker insulin immunostaining was found in both the acute and chronic diabetics, and in the insulin-treated diabetics, when compared to controls. Regenerated Langerhans islets were observed using immunostaining for insulin in the reverted diabetic group.  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l l l l} \hline \hline  & & **Controls** & **Acute Diabetics** \\  & & **(n = 6)** & **(n = 7)** \\ \hline Weight (g) & Initial & \(303.8\pm 9.46\) & \(293.0\pm 13.7\) \\  & Final & \(339.5\pm 14.97\) & \(301.7\pm  
Figure 1: _Cont._  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l l l l l l} \hline  & & **Controls** & **Chronic Diabetes** & **Insulin-Treated** & **Reverted** \\  & & **(n = 20)** & **(n = 14)** & **Diabetics** & **Diabetics** \\  & & & **(n = 13)** & **(n = 4)** \\ \hline Weight (g) & Initial & 222.1 \(\pm\) 16.8 & 222.9 \(\pm\) 17.2 & 230.2 \(\pm\) 236 & 204.5 \(\pm\) 5.9 \\  & Final & 460.3 \(\pm\) 46.9 *** & 354.0 \(\pm\) 33.2 * & 430.8 \(\pm\) 41.0 *** & 377.5 \(\pm\) 26.1 \\ \hline Blood glucose & Initial & 6.0 \(\pm\) 0.2 & 5.7 \(\pm\) 0.3 & 6.0 \(\pm\) 0.2 & 6.7 \(\pm\) 0.1 \\ level (mmol/L) & Final & 5.7 \(\pm\) 0.1 & 24.0 \(\pm\) 0.7 *** & 11.8 \(\pm\) 0.8 *** & a, 23.7 \(\pm\) 1.2 * \\ \hline Urine glucose level (mmol/L) & Final & 0.31 \(\pm\) 0.04 & 503.7 \(\pm\) 12.3 *** & 0.39 \(\pm\) 0.08 *** & - \\ \hline HbA1c (mmol/mol) & Final & 21.0 \(\pm\) 0.6 & 96.6 \(\pm\) 9.5 *** & 23.8 \(\pm\) 1.6 * & 32.8 \(\pm\) 5.1 \\ \hline HbA1c (\%) & Final & 4.1 \(\pm\) 0.1 & 11.0 \(\pm\) 0.9 *** & 4.3 \(\pm\) 0.1 * & 5.1 \(\pm\) 0.5 \\ \hline \end{tabular} a, value shows the average blood glucose levels of reverted diabetics measured before the rats recovered spontaneously; b, value shows the average blood glucose levels of reverted diabetics measured after the rats recovered spontaneously. Data are expressed as mean \(\pm\) SEM; * \(p\) \(<\) 0.05; *** \(p\) \(<\) 0.001 vs. initial values; * \(p\) \(<\) 0.01, * _p_\(<\) 0.001, * _p_\(<\) 0.001 vs. final controls; * \(p\) \(<\) 0.01; * _p_\(<\) 0.0001 vs. final diabetics. (HbA1c: glycated hemoglobin A1c).  
\end{table}
Table 3: Weight and glycemic characteristics of chronic diabetic rats.