Polyglucosan bodies in the sural nerve of a diabetic patient with polyneuropathy.

In the sural nerve of a 62-year-old woman with impaired glucose tolerance test and polyneuropathy, many intra-axonal polyglucosan bodies were observed. Polyglucosan bodies have been described in spontaneously or alloxan-diabetic rats, but are not usually observed in human diabetic neuropathy. Since intra-axonal polyglucosan bodies can occur in the sural nerve in various diseases and in aging, they are considered as non-specific changes. Their presence is probably related to a primary axonal neuropathy.