Perineurial sodium-potassium-ATPase activity in streptozotocin-diabetic rats.

Perineurial sodium-potassium-ATPase activity was estimated in streptozotocin-diabetic rats and compared with that in control animals. Total ATPase activity was found to be reduced by 34% and ouabain-sensitive ATPase activity by 53%. This finding is significant in relation to the putative role of the perineurium as a metabolically active perifascicular diffusion barrier that regulates the composition of the endoneurial fluid, as is its possible relevance to the occurrence of endoneurial edema in diabetes.