The mechanism of alloxan action has been
intensively studied, predominantly in vitro, and is now
characterized quite well. Using isolated islets (Weaver et
al. 1978b) and perfused rat pancreas (Kliber et al. 1996)
it was demonstrated that alloxan evokes a sudden rise in
insulin secretion in the presence or absence of glucose.
This phenomenon appeared just after alloxan treatment
and was not observed after repetitive exposure of islets to
this diabetogenic agent (Weaver et al. 1978b). The
sudden rise in blood insulin concentration was also
observed in vivo just after alloxan injection to rats
(Szkudelski et al. 1998). Alloxan-induced insulin release
is, however, of short duration and is followed by
complete suppression of the islet response to glucose