Effect of exercise training on acute (crush lesion) and chronic (diabetes mellitus) peripheral neuropathy in the rat.

The effect of moderate exercise training on acute and chronic neuropathy in two separate experiments was examined. Acute nerve dysfunction was induced by sciatic nerve crush lesion and chronic neuropathy by streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus (experimental diabetic neuropathy; EDN). Moderate exercise training was achieved by placing food and water, separately, at either end of a U-shaped tubular home cage (8 m). Recovery from the crush lesion and the development of EDN were monitored by evaluating the free walking pattern and nerve conduction velocity (NCV), respectively. In the acute neuropathy model, 24 days of exercise after the crush lesion resulted in an enhanced return of motor function in the early phase of recovery (P < 0.01) and an increased sensory NCV after 250 days in the late phase (P < 0.001). Diabetic rats benefited from this exercise training by showing fewer signs of EDN, as evidenced by a superior motor function (toespreading, calculated from the free walking pattern; P < 0.05) and an improvement in both motor and sensory NCV (both P < 0.05). We conclude that moderate exercise training is effective in enhancing recovery from acute peripheral neuropathy and in ameliorating the consequences of experimental chronic neuropathy in diabetic rats.