Table 3.

The effect of four weeks exposure to intermittent hypoxia (IH) on pancreatic β-cell mass

	IA + saline	IH + saline	P value
Sample size (n)	4	4	—
Body weight at end of IH exposure (g)	24.7 ± 0.43	21.3 ± 0.68*	P = 0.005
Pancreas weight at end of IH exposure (g)	309.0 ± 32.6	276.6 ± 27.0	P = 0.475
β-Cell area per pancreas area (%)	0.2526 ± 0.028	0.375 ± 0.030*	P = 0.023
β-Cell mass (mg)	0.78 ± 0.12	1.02 ± 0.05	P = 0.106
β-Cell mass per body weight (mg kg−1)	31.4 ± 4.4	47.9 ± 3.3*	P = 0.013

IH, intermittent hypoxia; IA, intermittent air; statistical significance determined by unpaired, two-tailed, t test; *P < 0.05.