HHS Public Access Author manuscript Author Manuscript

Am J Nephrol. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2016 July 25. Published in final edited form as: Am J Nephrol. 2015 ; 41(6): 438–447. doi:10.1159/000437342.

Electrochemical skin conductance in diabetic kidney disease Barry I. Freedman, MD1, S. Carrie Smith, BS1, Benjamin M. Bagwell, BS1, Jianzhao Xu, BS2, Donald W. Bowden, PhD2, and Jasmin Divers, PhD3 1Department

of Internal Medicine, Section on Nephrology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.

2Department

Author Manuscript

of Biochemistry and Center for Diabetes Research, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.

3Division

of Public Health Sciences, Department of Biostatistical Sciences, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.

Abstract Background—There is a need to identify patients with diabetic kidney disease (DKD) using non-invasive, cost-effective screening tests. Sudoscan®, a device using electrochemical skin conductance (ESC) to measure sweat gland dysfunction, is valuable for detecting peripheral neuropathy. ESC was tested for association with DKD (estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR]