Impaired autoregulation of cerebral blood flow in long-term type I (insulin-dependent) diabetic patients with nephropathy and retinopathy

Autoregulation of cerebral blood flow, i.e., the maintenance of cerebral blood flow within narrow limits during changes in arterial perfusion pressure, was studied in nine healthy control subjects and in 12 long-term Type I (insulin-dependent) diabetic patients with clinical microangiopathy. Cerebral blood flow was measured by the intravenous 133Xenon method. Mean arterial blood pressure was elevated approximately 30 mmHg by intravenous infusion of angiotensin amide II and lowered about 10 mmHg by intravenous infusion of trimethaphan camsylate. In the control subjects the flow/pressure curve was horizontal indicating perfect autoregulation. In the diabetic patients the flow/pressure curve showed a significant slope with a 1.9% change in CBF per 10 mmHg change in mean arterial blood pressure as compared to a slope value of -0.4% in the control subjects (P less than 0.05). Our results confirm the previous findings suggesting that autoregulation of cerebral blood flow is impaired in some long-term Type I diabetic patients with clinical microangiopathy (arteriolar hyalinosis).