Abstract
A number of studies have addressed diabetic neuropathy (DN) in transgenic and knock
out mouse models to unravel the molecular mechanisms underlying metabolic pain and
loss of pain perception. However, it is difficult to compare these studies with each
other or even with human DN due to experimental differences including the type of
diabetes, the background strain of the respective mouse model, the methods of diabetes
induction and the duration of diabetes, animal age and gender. To receive useful information
for DN from genetically modified mice, it is therefore mandatory to first define the
appropriate model and – if necessary – to backcross transgenic strains into the respective
background to allow a reliable (and at least in part translatable to human DN) interpretation
of the results.
Key words
diabetes - neuropathy - animal models
