| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Jul | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| 27 | 28 | 29 | ||||
Prescription Diabetes Drugs
High triglycerides correlate with diabetic neuropathy progression
Posted by admin in Prescription Diabetes Drugs on May 26th, 2009
Diabetic neuropathy patients with high triglycerides have increased myelinated fiber density (MFD) loss compared with neuropathy patients with lower triglycerides, report researchers.
Peripheral neuropathy, involving damage to nerves in the hands, arms, legs, and feet, is the most common complication of diabetes, affecting 60% of Type 1 and 2 diabetic patients.
In this study, Eva Feldman (University of Michigan, USA) and colleagues investigated mechanisms underlying the progression of diabetic neuropathy in 427 patients (78% Type 2 diabetes) using indices of sural nerve morphometry obtained at baseline and after 1 year.
Progression of neuropathy was defined as a loss of 500 fibers/mm2 or more in sural nerve MFD over 1 year. The researchers found that individuals who had progressing MFD had a 25% decrease in MFD from baseline compared with those whose condition was unchanged.
As reported in the journal Diabetes, the researchers found that elevated triglycerides and decreased peroneal motor nerve conduction velocity (NCV) at baseline were significantly associated with MFD loss at 1 year.
The association with raised triglycerides was independent of disease duration, age, diabetes control, or other variables.
Of note, peroneal NCV, although significant, was only 5% different between groups and therefore did not contribute much to the predictive model.
“These results set the stage for clinicians to be able to address lowering lipid counts with their diabetes patients with neuropathy as vigilantly as they pursue glucose control,” said Feldman.
Co-investigator Rodica Pop-Busui, also from the University of Michigan, added: “Our findings in this study reinforce the tight links between cardiovascular disease and peripheral neuropathy in patients with diabetes.
“We demonstrated that the same lipid particles that contribute to the progression of atherosclerosis are also very important players in peripheral nerve fiber loss.”
MedWire (www.medwire-news.md) is an independent clinical news service provided by Current Medicine Group, a part of Springer Science+Business Media. © Current Medicine Group Ltd; 2009
