1984 Volume 27 Issue 4 Pages 507-514
Autonomic neuropathy (AN) in diabetics was evaluated on the basis of variations in heart rate (HR) during deep breathing, and the renin-aldosterone system was assessed as a function of the severity of AN.
Mean ΔHR, a widely used index, sometimes showed an abnormally low value in normal controls, so that MaxΔHR rather than McanΔHR was employed in this study by defining 10 beats/min as a lower normal limit.MaxΔHR decreased in anage-dependent manner.The MaxΔHR/HR ratio, however, tended to belower in diabetics than in the correspondingly aged non-diabetics, suggesting this might be usefUI for evaluating AN in aged diabetics.MaxΔHR correlated well with both the motor (r=0.7958, P<0.001) and sensory (r=0.7785, P<0.001) nerve conduction velocity in 18 diabetics studied.
The response of PRA to the furosemide-posture test was significantly impaired in the group with severe AN, while the PAC response did not differ among the groups.Cortisol and PAC in the ACTH stimulation test were comparable in all three groups.Two cases with the syndrome of hyporeninemic hypoaldosteronism which showed hyperkalemia and marked orthostatic hypotention are reported briefly.
