Serial nerve conduction studies of the tail of rhesus monkey ( Macaca mulatta ) and potential implications for interpretation of human neurophysiological studies

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It is well accepted in clinical medicine that nerve conduction studies are helpful in the diagnosis of diabetic peripheral neuropathy. However, some clinicians utilize serial nerve conduction studies to make inferences regarding the progression of peripheral neuropathy. The validity of this clinical construct has not been established. In order to determine the variability in serial nerve conduction studies, sensory and motor responses were obtained from the caudal nerve of the tail of a diabetic monkey. In particular, the sensory and motor nerve conduction studies were obtained on seven separate occasions over a period of 4.5 months in a diabetic Macaca mulatta monkey. The coefficient of variation in the motor onset latency, motor amplitude, sensory onset latency and sensory amplitude was 10.7%, 56.4%, 4.2% and 23.4%, respectively. These results suggest that physicians should be cautious in making clinical inferences based on the changes in serial nerve conduction studies.