Abstract
In alloxan diabetic rats, reduction of motor nerve conduction velocity (MNCV) and morphological changes, such as slight atrophy of Schwann cells and disintegration of myelin sheath, of the sciatic nerves were observed 6 and 10 seeks, respectively, after alloxan administration. The functional morphological abnormalities appeared to be exaggerated when the diabetic rats were kept on restricted intake of vitamin B_1, B_6 and B_<12> for 9 weeks beginning one week after alloxan administration. When thiamine tetrahydrofurfuryl disulfide (TTFD) (2mg/kg/day), pyridoxal phosphate (PLP) (2mg/kg/day) and hydroxycobalamin (OH-B_<12>) (40μg/kg/day) were intraperitoneally injected to the diabetic rats for 5 weeks beginning one week after alloxan, MNCV of the nerve was comparable to that of non-diabetic rats. When the same treatment was performed on the diabetic rats for 4 weeks beginning 6 weeks after alloxan administration, the functional and morphological abnormalities of the nerve were markedly reduced. On the basis of these results, it appears that the nerve dysfunction of alloxan diabetic rats can be influenced by vitamin B intake. Furthermore, TTFD, PLP and OH-B_<12> appear to have favourable effects on the nerve dysfunction associated with diabetes.
