Peripheral nerve function and metabolic control in diabetes mellitus.

Measurement of conduction velocity along the H reflex arc was used to study sensorimotor peripheral nerve function in diabetic patients during short- and long-term improvement of hyperglycemia. In ten type I diabetics a slight (p less than 0.05) conduction increase occurred after 6 hours of normal glycemia induced by an artificial endocrine pancreas. Similar but more prominent improvement occurred in twelve type I diabetics treated with continuous subcutaneous insulin injection for 6 months. The results suggest that nerve conduction slowing in diabetic patients stems partly from reversible, nonstructural abnormalities and partly from more slowly reversible morphological or chemical changes in peripheral nerve.