No acute effect of high blood glucose on nerve conduction in adolescents with IDDM

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the acute effect of high blood glucose on the motor and sensory nerve conduction in adolescents with IDDM. Four patients, 15-18 years old, with a history of diabetes from 5 to 9 years underwent repeated studies of the conduction properties in the median, peroneal, and sural nerves within a 10-day period. Capillary blood glucose was drawn immediately before and after each examination. Repeated measurements in each patient revealed only a small variation in the values of ten nerve conduction parameters despite of large differences in the blood glucose level. A multiple regression analysis of the data from all patients in a total of 20 measurements gave P-values between 0.18 and 0.96, i.e. there was no correlation between any of the ten studied conduction parameters and the prevailing blood glucose level. This supports the view that nerve dysfunction is a consequence of long-term poor metabolic control (HbA1c) and not dependent on the acute effect of hyperglycemia in adolescents with IDDM.