The Influence of Diet and Insulin on the Incidence of Cataracts in Diabetic Rats *

The appearance of cataracts in animals with experimental diabetes has been described in dogs with pituitary6 or pancreatic diabetes,"'3 in rats with pancreatic,3'9 alloxan1"'11 or dehydro-ascorbic acid diabetes,' and in alloxan diabetic rabbits."'7 According to some of these investigators"1', the app,earance of cataracts is correlated with the degree of hyperglycemia and glycosuria. The observations reported in this paper on partially pancreatectomized and alloxan-diabetic rats demonstrate further the influence of diet and the level of circulating blood glucose on the development of cataracts, and the importance of insulin in the control of the diabetic state and the consequent prevention of cataract development.