title: Assessment of nerve excitability in toxic and metabolic neuropathies.
abstract: Measurement of nerve excitability by threshold tracking provides complementary information to conventional nerve conduction studies and may be used to infer the activity of a variety of ion channels, energy-dependent pumps, and ion exchange processes activated during the process of impulse conduction. This review highlights recent clinical excitability studies that have suggested mechanisms for nerve involvement in a range of metabolic and toxic neuropathies. While clinical nerve excitability studies are still in their infancy, and it is too early to know whether they have diagnostic value, there is growing evidence of their utility to provide novel insights into the pathophysiological mechanisms involved in a variety of neuropathic disturbances.
authors.affiliation: Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute and Prince of Wales Clinical School, University of New South Wales, Randwick, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Arun V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Krishnan
authors.forename: Cindy S-Y
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Susanna B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Matthew C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Kiernan
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000502:physiology; D009417:Nerve Tissue / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D010525:Peripheral Nerves / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D011115:Polyneuropathies / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D007473:Ion Channels