Diabetes mellitus due to insulin deficiency has adverse effect on all organ systems including reproductive organs. Streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes in rats provides a relevant model to study reproductive dysfunction under diabetic conditions, as they exhibit a number of deficits in reproductive function that resemble those seen in humans. The present investigation was designed to delineate the impact of STZ-induced diabetes and insulin replacement on the rat ventral prostate.

Healthy adult male rats of Wistar strain were divided into three groups: Group I: Control; Group II: STZ-diabetic (rats were treated with a single intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ) at a dose of 65mg/kg body weight); Group III: Insulin replaced (after 3days of STZ treatment, a group of adult male diabetic rats was given insulin at a dose of 3U/100g body weight in two equally divided doses at 08:00 and 18:00h). All the rats were killed after 20days of treatment and ventral prostate was removed and processed for biochemical estimations such as glucose oxidation, nuclear and cytosolic androgen and estrogen receptors, fructose, acid and alkaline phosphatases.

STZ-diabetes significantly decreased the body weight. Glucose oxidation, androgen and estrogen receptor concentration were also decreased in ventral prostate, but the fructose concentration was increased. Specific activities of both acid and alkaline phosphatases were also markedly decreased due to diabetes.

The results of this study suggest adverse effects of STZ-induced diabetes on the biochemical profiles as well as androgen and estrogen receptors of rat ventral prostate. Amelioration of these changes (partially or completely) by insulin replacement indicates that optimal insulin is essential for maintaining functional integrity of ventral prostate.