[Influence of metabolic control on peripheral diabetic neuropathy (author's transl)].

The influence of metabolic control on peripheral neuropathy was studied in a population of adult insulin-dependent diabetic patients. Motor conduction velocity (MCV), measured on the common peroneal nerve, was used as electrophysiological index of neuropathy. Following control of hyperglycaemia, rapid and significant improvement in MCV was observed in diabetics without renal or ocular complications, but not in diabetics presenting with these complications. This would suggest that peripheral diabetic neuropathy is governed by two different mechanisms and that one of these is metabolic, as it can be reversed by reinstating glucide balance.