Effect of rat nerve growth factor on nerve conduction velocity and serum IGF-1 in patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy

Objective To study the effect of rat nerve growth factor on nerve conduction velocity and serum insu-lin-like growth factor-1（IGF-1）in patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Methods One hundred and twenty-eight patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy were randomly divided into two groups,the control group（64 cases）who were treated through mecobalamin intramuscular and the observation group（64 cases）who were treated through rat nerve growth factor intramuscular. They were treated for four weeks. The motor nerve conduction velocity（MCV）and sensory nerve con-duction velocity（SCV）about median and peroneal nerve before and after treatment was measured. Serum IGF-1 was meas-ured before and after treatment. Results Total effective rate was 96. 9% in the observation group,and 89. 1% in the con-trol group and the total effective rate of observation group was significantly higher（P ﹤ 0. 05）. Before treatment the median nerve,peroneal nerve MCV and SCV has no significant difference（P ﹥ 0. 05）. After treatment,the median nerve,perone-al nerve MCV and SCV were significantly increased,and compared with the control group,the observation group increased more significantly（P ﹤ 0. 05）. After treatment,serum IGF-1 were significantly higher（P ﹤ 0. 05,P ﹤ 0. 01）,and com-pared with the control group after treatment,the observation group increased more significantly（P ﹤ 0. 05）. Patients of two groups had no serious adverse reactions. Conclusions Rat nerve growth factor can increase nerve conduction velocity and serum IGF-1 in patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Key words: Diabetic peripheral neuropathy; Rat nerve growth factor; Nerve conduction velocity; Insulin-like growth factor-1