Hanaoka Y, Ohi T, Furukawa S, Furukawa Y, Hayashi K, Matsukura S
Department of Internal Medicine, Miyazaki Medical College, Japan.
Exp Neurol. 1992 Feb;115(2):292-6. doi: 10.1016/0014-4886(92)90064-w.
This study examined the effects of 4-methylcatechol (4-MC), a nonamine catechol compound, on the neuropathic process of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. 4-MC is one of the potent stimulators of nerve growth factor (NGF) synthesis at the cellular level and in cultured sciatic nerve segments of rats. Diabetic rats showed a statistically significant fall in sciatic motor nerve conduction velocity (MNCV) and a significantly reduced NGF content in the sciatic nerve (38.5 +/- 2.8% of control, P less than 0.01) during the experimental period of 4 weeks. 4-MC treatment of the diabetic rats for 4 weeks starting from the STZ injection elevated the NGF content (140% of untreated diabetic rats, P less than 0.05) and prevented the reduction in MNCV, but no effect on high blood glucose levels was seen. These findings suggest that decreased NGF levels in the sciatic nerve of the experimental diabetic rat may be involved in the development of the diabetic neuropathic process and that 4-MC, which can elevate endogenous NGF levels in vivo, may compensate for the inhibitory effect of STZ on the NGF level in progressive diabetic neuropathy.
本研究检测了非胺类儿茶酚化合物4-甲基儿茶酚（4-MC）对链脲佐菌素（STZ）诱导的糖尿病大鼠神经病变过程的影响。4-MC是大鼠细胞水平和培养的坐骨神经节段中神经生长因子（NGF）合成的强效刺激剂之一。在4周的实验期内，糖尿病大鼠的坐骨神经运动神经传导速度（MNCV）出现统计学上的显著下降，坐骨神经中的NGF含量显著降低（为对照组的38.5±2.8%，P<0.01）。从注射STZ开始对糖尿病大鼠进行4周的4-MC治疗，可提高NGF含量（为未治疗糖尿病大鼠的140%，P<0.05）并防止MNCV降低，但对高血糖水平未见影响。这些发现表明，实验性糖尿病大鼠坐骨神经中NGF水平降低可能参与了糖尿病神经病变过程的发展，而4-MC可在体内提高内源性NGF水平，可能补偿STZ对进行性糖尿病神经病变中NGF水平的抑制作用。
