Characterization of the Nile Grass Rat as a Unique Model for Type 2 Diabetic Polyneuropathy

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) has reached pandemic proportions worldwide. Almost half of T2D patients suffer from polyneuropathy that can present as paresthesia, hyperalgesia, allodynia, or hypoesthesia. Therapeutic treatment options are largely incomplete, suggesting new avenues of research are needed. Herein, we introduce the African Nile Grass rat (NGR), which develops T2D solely by diet manipulation, as a novel T2D polyneuropathy model. The purpose of this study was to first characterize T2D-induced polyneuropathy in the NGRs before highlighting their strength as a potential prediabetic model of T2D. NGRs with long-term T2D exhibit hallmark features of polyneuropathy such as decreased motor nerve conduction velocity, intraepidermal denervation, and hyposensitivity to noxious mechanical and thermal stimulation. At the dorsal root ganglia, T2D neurons have altered sodium channel expression, specifically increased Nav1.7 and Nav1.9, and their surrounding satellite glial cells express glial fibrillary acidic protein. Now that these T2D NGRs have been characterized and shown to have a similar presentation to human and other animal models of T2D, the strength of this diet-induced model can be exploited. The prediabetic changes can be observed over their long progression to develop T2D which may allow for a therapeutic window to prevent T2D before permanent damage occurs.