Chronic low frequency electrical activation for one week corrects nerve conduction velocity deficits in rats with diabetes of three months duration.

This study examined the effect of chronic electrical activation on conduction velocity deficits after three months of streptozotocin-induced diabetes. There were 30% and 20% reductions in conduction velocity in diabetic animals for tibialis anterior and saphenous nerves, respectively (p less than 0.01). Unilateral electrical stimulation of the common peroneal nerve, which contains axons supplying tibialis anterior but not saphenous nerve, was carried out in a group of diabetic and a group of normal control rats. Stimulation was given over seven days, at 10 Hz for 8 h/day. Final experiments were carried out at least 17 h after the last stimulation session. In normal rats stimulation had no effect on conduction velocity in either nerve. In diabetic animals, however, tibialis anterior conduction was within the normal control range for the stimulated nerve. In contrast, the contralateral unstimulated nerve had reduced conduction velocity (p less than 0.001), which was within the unoperated diabetic control range. There were no effects on saphenous nerve conduction, comparing stimulated and unstimulated legs. We conclude that chronic increases in nerve electrical activation promote mechanisms that reverse conduction deficits in diabetic rats.