{{Short description|Laboratory rat strain}} '''Biobreeding rat''', also known as the '''BB or BBDP rat''', is an inbred [[laboratory rat]] strain that spontaneously develops [[autoimmune]] [[Type 1 Diabetes]]. Like the [[NOD mice]], BB [[rat]]s are used as an [[animal model]] for [[Type 1 diabetes]]. The strain re-capitulates many of the features of human type 1 diabetes, and has contributed greatly to the research of T1D pathogenesis.<ref>Mordes JP, Poussier P, Blankenhorn EP, Greiner DL: Rat models of type 1 diabetes: Genetics, environment and autoimmunity. Boca Raton, CRC Press, 2007</ref>
Two T1D susceptibility genes have been identified in the BB rat. The susceptible MHC class II RT1u haplotype on chromosome 20 <ref>Colle, E., R.D. Guttmann, and T. Seemayer, Spontaneous diabetes mellitus syndrome in the rat. I. Association with the major histocompatibility complex. The Journal of experimental medicine, 1981. 154(4): p. 1237-42.</ref> and a null mutation in the [[GIMAP5]] gene on chromosome 4.<ref>Poussier, P., et al., Lymphopenia and abnormal lymphocyte subsets in the "BB" rat: relationship to the diabetic syndrome. Endocrinology, 1982. 110(5): p. 1825-7.</ref> The Gimap5 mutation results in severe T cell lymphopenia in the BB rat and is thought to contribute to T1D pathogenesis through impaired development and function and regulatory T cells.<ref>Poussier, P., et al., Impaired post-thymic development of regulatory CD4+25+ T cells contributes to diabetes pathogenesis in BB rats. Journal of Immunology, 2005. 174(7): p. 4081-9.</ref> Recently, 8 additional loci on rat chromosomes 1,2,3,6 (2 loci), 12 and 14 have been shown to be linked to Type 1 Diabetes in the BB rat.<ref>{{cite journal | author = Wallis RH, Wang K, Marandi L, Hsieh E, Ning T, Chao GY, Sarmiento J, Paterson AD, Poussier P | date = Apr 2009 | title = Type 1 diabetes in the BB rat: a polygenic disease | url = | journal = Diabetes | volume = 58 | issue = 4| pages = 1007–17 }}</ref>
== History == BB rats are the most extensively studied rat model of T1D. They were originally derived from a Canadian colony of outbred [[Wistar rats]] that spontaneously develop [[hyperglycemia]] and [[ketoacidosis]], characteristic of clinical onset of T1D.<ref>Mordes, J.P., et al., Rat models of type 1 diabetes: genetics, environment, and autoimmunity. ILAR J, 2004. 45(3): p. 278-91.</ref> Subsequent BB rat colonies were established. One in [[Worcester, Massachusetts]], has been inbred and known as BBDP/Wor and another one in Ottawa, Canada, an outbred strain known as BBdp.<ref>Mordes, J.P., et al., Rat models of type 1 diabetes: genetics, environment, and autoimmunity. ILAR J, 2004. 45(3): p. 278-91.</ref>
==Modulation of diabetes==
Diabetes in BB rats can be prevented by a single injection of mycobacterial adjuvants such as complete Freund's adjuvant (FCA).<ref>{{cite journal | author = Sadelain MW, Qin HY, Sumoski W, Parfrey N, Singh B, Rabinovitch A | year = 1990 | title = Prevention of diabetes in the BB rat by early immunotherapy using Freund's adjuvant | url = | journal = J Autoimmun | volume = 3 | issue = | pages = 671–80 | pmid = 2088390 }}</ref>
== See also == *[[NOD mice]] *[[Type 1 Diabetes]] *[[Autoimmunity]]
== References == {{reflist}}
[[Category:Laboratory rat strains]]