Association of thermal perception thresholds with cardiovascular autonomic function in diabetes

In order to study the association between warm thermal-perception thresholds (WPT), cold thermal-perception thresholds (CPT) and cardiovascular autonomic function, we examined 91 otherwise healthy patients with diabetes mellitus (69 with type I and 22 with type II). The covariance analysis revealed that WPT was associated with the deep-breathing E/I ratio and the Valsalva ratio (p = 0.004 and p = 0.008, respectively) whereas CPT was associated with the Valsalva ratio and the postural blood pressure decrement (p = 0.008 and p = 0.004, respectively). These associations possibly reflect histological similarities between the parasympathetic nerves and those mediating warm sensation, and between the sympathetic nerves and those mediating cold sensation.