[Nerve growth factor and diabetic neuropathy].
BACKGROUND
The progress made by contemporary neurobiology opens new horizons both for study and for treatment of disorders of the nervous system. At the present time we are in the age of growth factors. These are molecules which affect survival, development and the normal functioning of cell populations.


METHODS
One of the most widely studied growth factors is nervous growth factor (NGF) which is necessary for normal life of various types of neurones, including sensory nerves and nerves derived from the neural crests. Diabetic neuropathy, worldwide a major neurological disorder, is primarily characterized by involvement of the fine fibres for temperature and pain perception and also by a variety of autonomic disorders. The great dependence of sensory and sympathetic nerves on NGF, the quantity of results which show alterations in the levels of neurotrophic factors in diabetic neuropathy (DN), and the encouraging experimental and clinical results of using NGF as a new alternative to treatment with DN, were the basic reasons which led us to do this study.


CONCLUSIONS
We started by considering neurotrophic factors, especially NGF and its connection with DN disorders and its clinical applications, we made a summary of the main findings in this field to date.
Castellano
O
O
Centro Internacional de Restauración Neurológica, CIREN, La Habana, Cuba. orlando@neubas.sld.cu
Martínez-Martí
L
L
Gómez-Fernández
L
L
D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000628:therapy; D000818:Animals; D002117:Calcitriol / Q000494:pharmacology; D017690:Cell Transplantation; D002838:Chromaffin System / Q000166:cytology; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / Q000503:physiopathology; D003929:Diabetic Neuropathies / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D006085:Graft Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000502:physiology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009416:Nerve Regeneration / Q000187:drug effects; D009432:Neural Crest / Q000166:cytology; D009475:Neurons, Afferent / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000628:therapy; D051381:Rats; D017475:Receptors, Nerve Growth Factor / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D013311:Streptozocin; D013564:Sympathetic Nervous System / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology
D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D017475:Receptors, Nerve Growth Factor; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D013311:Streptozocin; D002117:Calcitriol
Factor de crecimiento nervioso y neuropatía diabética.