Parameters of conduction via afferent nerve fibers in mice with streptozotocin-induced and genetically determined diabetes

The parameters of conduction via afferent nerve fibers were studied in mice with streptozotocin-induced and genetically determineddiabetes mellitus (9- to 12-week-old animals; streptozotocin was injected into 5-week-old mice). Recording of spinal cord dorsal surface potentials evoked by stimulation of the sciatic nerve showed that within the studied time interval the mice of the two diabetic groups were characterized by a moderate decrease (by 7.9% and 5.8%, on average) in the conduction velocity for afferent volleys (measured according to the delay of the peak of positivity of a volley) and by a considerable increase in the duration of the positive phase of these volleys (by 36% and 33%, respectively, as compared with the values in intact animals). Therefore, the population of relatively slow group A afferent fibers becomes noticeably larger in the sciatic nerve of diabetic mice even at early stages of the pathology, but at the same time a considerable amount of the fastest-conducting (about 45–60 m/sec) fibers is still preserved. The changes in mice with diabetes of different etiology were very similar, in spite of different hyperglycemia levels in these groups. Possible factors determining diabetes-induced modifications of the conduction velocity via the nerve fibers are discussed.Neirofiziologiya/Neurophysiology, Vol. 28, No. 4/5, pp. 173–178, July–October, 1996.