ABSTRACT
I. INTRODUCTION A. Neuropathy and Nerve Blood Flow Neuropathy is a common complication of diabetes mellitus. Studies in patients and animal models have shown that endoneurial hypoxia, caused by impaired nerve blood flow, is a major factor in the etiology of diabetic neuropathy (14). Changes in vascular function, particularly of the endothelium, occur early after diabetes induction in experimental models, and in some preparations, this may even be partially mimicked by acute exposure to hyperglycemia (5,6). In streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats, sciatic nerve blood flow is reduced by approximately 50% within a week of diabetes induction (7,8), and this pre cedes changes in nerve conduction velocity (NCV). Large diameter sensory and motor fibers are particularly susceptible to endoneurial hypoxia in experi mental diabetes (9,10).
