Neuroprotective and Neurodegenerative Markers in the Early Detection of Peripheral Neuropathy in Type 2 Diabetes Patients

Abstract

Background: Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is a prevalent, severe diabetic consequence. Exploring relationship between biomarker levels and DPN may help improve understanding disease mechanisms and support future biomarker-oriented research. Meanwhile, fibroblast growth factor 1 (FGF1) and heat shock protein 27 (HSP27) indicated nerve protection; whereas, semaphorin3A (Sema3A) and nerve filament light chain (NFL) indicated damage to a nerve. This study was designed to assess the association between biomarker levels and occurrence of DPN.

Methods: A case-control study comprised 45 DPN patients diagnosed by nerve conduction studies (NCS), 48 diabetic without neuropathy (DWN) patients, and 45 healthy controls. The participants’ ages ranged from 35 to 60 years. Serum FGF1, HSP27, Sema3A, and NFL concentrations were measured using sandwich and competitive enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) techniques.

Results: DPN group showed elevation in HSP27 and Sema3A levels relative to DWN group (P = 0.016 and P = 0.027, respectively). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve showed the area under the curve (AUC) values between DPN and DWN groups, which were 0.469 for FGF1, 0.746 for HSP27, 0.783 for Sema3A, and 0.625 for NFL. Besides, the results indicate that there is an association between FGF1, Sem3A and neuropathy (β = −0.010, P < 0.001 for FGF1; β = 3.007, P ≤ 0.001 for Sema3A), and a significant elevation was found in age and duration of injury with disease (β = 0.129, P < 0.001 for age; β = 0.589, P < 0.001 for duration).

Conclusion: The results indicate that HSP27 and Sema3A are linked to DPN and show a capacity to differentiate between DPN and DWN patients. A notable correlation is observed between age, duration, and disease progression. Further studies are needed.