Motor unit number estimation in patients with diabetic sensory neuropathy

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the function of motor nerve in patients with diabetic sensory neuropathy (DPN) by estimating the motor units.Methods Fifty-four patients with DPN were divided into two groups according to the nerve conduction abnormality of ulnar nerve.The paresthosia group only included patients of 33 patients (20 male, 13 female) with abnormal sensory conduction.The admixture group included 21 patients (13 male, 8 female) with abnormal motor sensory conduction.The control group included 42 healthy people.A Keypoint4 electromyogram device was used to estimate the motor units of hypothenar muscle, and the fasting blood glucose and the duration of diabetes mellitus were documented.Results The motor units of hypothenar muscle in paresthesia group, admixture group and control group was 97.1±47.6, 63.3±22.3, 173.0±75.5 (F=21.259, P=0.000) respectively.The hypothcnar muscle motor units(84.0±42.8) in 54 patients with DPN had negative correlation (r=-0.414, P=0.002) with the duration of diabetes mellitus (1 month to 26 years) and had no evident correlation with fasting blood glucose (5.0-20.4 mmol/L).Conclusion There is clinical motor nerve damage in patients with diabetic sensory neuropathy, and the loss of motor units is impacted by the duration of diabetes mellitus. Key words: Diabetic neuropathies; Paresthesia; Evoked protentials; Motor neurons; Electromyography