Chronically streptozocin-diabetic monkey does not closely mimic human diabetic neuropathy

Abstract

In order to evaluate the value of diabetic Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscatus) as an animal model for studying the pathogenesis of diabetic neuropathy, morphological examinations were performed on myelinated nerve fibers and endoneurial microvessels at three levels of the lower limb nerve in eight streptozocin (STZ)-diabetic monkeys with the duration of diabetes up to 36 months and in four roughly age-matched control monkeys using a computer-assisted image analyzer. Nerve fiber loss was not found, although a tendency for nerve fiber atrophy was found in diabetic monkeys. Endoneurial microvessels did not show either endothelial or pericyte proliferation or basement membrane thickening. The results suggest that chronically STZ-diabetic Japanese monkeys with the duration of diabetes up to 36 months might be useful for studying diabetic axonopathy, but do not closely mimic the nerve pathology found in human diabetic neuropathy.