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The first results of a long-term study on rats rendered chronically diabetic with streptozotocin are presented. Besides well-known ocular changes (formation of cataracts, refractive changes, neovascularisation of iris, loss of retinal capillary endothelial and mural cells; variations in capillary diameter due to fusiform capillary microaneurysms), the formation of typical saccular microaneurysms, qualitative and quantitative changes of the capillary basement membrane ultrastructure have been observed. The basement membranes of diabetic animals showed focal thickenings containing basement membranelike and/or fibrillar material with the periodicity of collagen, but an increase of mean basement membrane width was not found compared with the controls.

SUMMARY The effect of a single subcutaneous injection of octreotide (50 μg) on mouth‐to‐caecum transit time was determined in patients with the irritable bowel syndrome who complained of bowel frequency, and in healthy volunteers. The assessment of mouth‐to‐caecum transit time was performed by monitoring breath hydrogen concentration and noting a sustained 10 p.p.m. rise after ingestion of lactulose 40 ml. Measurements were performed fasting, and on a separate day, after a standard breakfast which included 40 ml lactulose. The studies were performed double‐blind in a pre‐determined random order. Octreotide prolonged mouth‐to‐caecum transit time in irritable bowel syndrome patients and healthy subjects by factors of 2.4 and 2.6 after lactulose when fasting, respectively, and by factors of 2.8 and 2.6 after the breakfast which contained lactulose. The upper gastrointestinal transit rate was similar in irritable bowel syndrome patients and healthy controls.

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