Autonomic nervous system and microcirculation in diabetes.
In order to evaluate the occurrence of sympathetic impairment of skin microvascular control in diabetes, we evaluated the spectral analysis of forearm skin laser-Doppler fluctuations in nine insulin-dependent diabetic subjects and in 21 controls of similar age. Low-frequency oscillations (around 0.1 Hz) were significantly lower in diabetics than in controls (2.333 +/- 0.340 (mean +/- SEM) units vs. 3.486 +/- 0.093 units, P less than 0.001), whereas no significant differences were found between the two groups regarding high-frequency respiration-related oscillations. These results suggest that the loss of rhythmicity in diabetic subjects is selectively related to low-frequency oscillations, mostly under sympathetic control, and is likely to be dependent on autonomic abnormality.
Department of Internal Medicine, Clinica Medica 1, University of Pavia, Italy.
M
M
Rossi
L
L
Ricordi
E
E
Mevio
G
G
Fornasari
C
C
Orlandi
P
P
Fratino
G
G
Finardi
L
L
Bernardi
D000328:Adult; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004562:Electrocardiography; D006801:Humans; D008833:Microcirculation / Q000503:physiopathology; D012016:Reference Values; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D012867:Skin / Q000098:blood supply*