Streptozotocin (STZ) is believed to induce pancreatic beta cell death in mice by depleting the cell of NAD+NADH. The drug is known to cause a greater depletion of beta cell NAD+NADH in C57bl/6J mice than in Balb/c mice. To investigate the basis for this strain difference, we compared the effects of streptozotocin on poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase (PARP) activation - the major site of NAD consumption, and on mitochondrial activity - the major site of NAD production.%A significant strain difference was demonstrated in STZ-induced PARP activation (fmol NAD incorporated/min/microgram DNA+/-s.e.m.: Balb/c control 2.28+/-0.14, Balb STZ 3.11+/-0.25; C57bl/6J control 2.57+/-0.29, C57bl/6J STZ 4.17+/-0.24). In comparison, no strain difference could be demonstrated in hydrogen-peroxide-induced PARP activation. No strain differences could be detected in the activity of STZ-treated islet mitochondria as measured by determining ATP production (pmol/microgram protein/h+/-s. e.m.: Balb/c control 0.20+/-0.02, Balb/c STZ 0.15+/-0.02; C57bl/6J control 0.23+/- 0.03, C57bl/6J STZ 0.15+/-0.02) or by 3-[4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) dye reduction (change in optical density/mg protein+/-s.e.m.: Balb/c control 10.19+/-0.62, Balb/c STZ 6.01+/-1.17; C57bl/6J control 6. 15+/-0.98, C57bl/6J STZ 5.81+/-0.96).% The strain difference in STZ-induced NAD depletion appears to be due to a difference in NAD consumption and not a difference in a mitochondrial process involved in replacing decreasing NAD concentrations. It is unlikely that a strain difference in the enzymic activity of PARP is responsible for strain differences in the effects of STZ, as no strain differences in hydrogen-peroxide-induced PARP activation could be detected. Thus the greater PARP activation, NAD depletion and beta cell death observed in C57bl/6J islets may be due to greater levels of DNA damage or differences in the DNA excision repair processes.

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