Diabetic Neuropathy Abstract

Diabetic Neuropathy Abstract Diabetic Neuropathy: The Effect of Diabetes on the Peripheral Nervous System Mackenzie Martin, Christopher Spears, Brandon Sowell and Valerie K. Haftel, Ph.D., Morehouse College, Atlanta, GA 30314 Diabetes mellitus is a disorder of metabolism resulting from low levels of hormone insulin or from resistance to insulin's effects. Inadequate levels of insulin secretion cause rising blood sugar levels. Over 230 million people in the world are affected by different types of diabetes (type I and type II). At least 177 million of these people suffer from secondary complications. Neuropathy is one such complication that can lead to numbness, tingling, pain and weakness of hands and feet, and movement disorders. Our research deals with the effects of diabetes on neurons involved in movement, namely sensory afferents called proprioceptors. Previous data from this lab showed changes in conduction and firing properties of these neurons in rats diabetic for 3 wks (Benedict et al 2005), yet no change in movement behavior (Adams et al SFN Abstract 2007). This study investigates whether longer periods of diabetes would cause changes in rats’ ability to walk across a beam or grid. To do so, as in the above studies, rats were injected with streptozotocin (STZ, 55 mg/kg, IP; a toxin that kills insulinproducing cells in the pancreas). Rats were checked for diabetes measuring blood and urine glucose, and the number of footslips measured when walking across metal beams or a grid each week for 6 wks following injection. Data show that the number of footslips increased as the number of weeks with diabetes increased, with the number of footslips almost doubling from week 3 (2 slips) to week 6 (5 slips). These data show that neuronal changes take longer to be reflected in movement behavior. Future studies will examine the anatomical make up of these neurons; in addition to other neuronal functions associated with these motor behaviors. This research was supported by NIH MBRS-SCORE grant number: 1s06GM067078-01A2.