Autonomic nervous function in experimentally diabetic rats: the effects of aldose reductase inhibition, dietary myo-inositol and thyroid hormone replacement

Neuropathy, a common complication of human diabetes, is not prevented by current antidiabetic therapy. Several mechanisms, some reversible, have been proposed. Clinical assessment of drug efficacy in this condition is difficult because of its slow and unpredictable development and its possible irreversibility, once established. A reliable animal model of diabetic neuropathy would be very useful. Changes such as reduced nerve conduction velocity are used as models but their relationship to neuropathy is uncertain. The main purpose of this study was to examine autonomic changes in the experimentally diabetic rat with the aim of identifying more appropriate models. The effects of three treatments which correct specific biochemical abnormalities which may underlie diabetic complications, were also studied. [Continues.]