Vitamin D deficiency is associated with painful diabetic neuropathy

Alam, Uazman ORCID: 0000-0002-3190-1122, Petropoulos, Ioannis N, Ponirakis, Georgios, Ferdousi, Maryam, Asghar, Omar, Jeziorska, Maria, Marshall, Andrew ORCID: 0000-0001-8273-7089, Boulton, Andrew JM, Efron, Nathan and Malik, Rayaz A (2021) Vitamin D deficiency is associated with painful diabetic neuropathy DIABETES-METABOLISM RESEARCH AND REVIEWS, 37 (1). e3361-. ISSN 1520-7552, 1520-7560

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Abstract

Background: The aetiology of painful diabetic neuropathy is unclear. We have evaluated vitamin D levels in diabetic patients with and without painful neuropathy. Methods: Forty-three patients with type 1 diabetes and painless (DPN) (n = 20) or painful (PDN) (n = 23) neuropathy and 14 non-diabetic healthy control subjects (C) underwent assessment of neurologic deficits, quantitative sensory testing (QST), electrophysiology, skin biopsy, corneal confocal microscopy (CCM) and measurement of serum 25(OH)D. Results: There were no significant differences for age, BMI, HbA<inf>1c</inf>, lipids, neurological deficits, QST, electrophysiology, intra-epidermal nerve fibre density (IENFD) and corneal nerve morphology between patients with DPN and PDN. Both positive (hyperalgesia and allodynia) and negative symptoms (paraesthesia and numbness) of diabetic neuropathy were greater in PDN compared with DPN (P =.009 and P =.02, respectively). Serum 25(OH)D levels were significantly lower in PDN (24.0 ± 14.1 ng/mL) compared with DPN (34.6 ± 15.0 ng/mL, P =.01) and controls (34.1 ± 8.6 ng/mL, P =.03). The odds ratio in favour of painful diabetic neuropathy was 9.8 [P =.003 (95% CI, 2.2–76.4)] for vitamin D deficiency (<20 ng/mL) and 4.4 [P =.03 (95% CI, 1.1-19.8)] for vitamin D insufficiency (<30 ng/mL). Conclusions: This study suggests that vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency are associated with painful diabetic neuropathy.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	diabetic neuropathy, small fibre neuropathy, vitamin D, Painful neuropathy
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	12 Aug 2020 09:56
Last Modified:	23 May 2026 03:16
DOI:	10.1002/dmrr.3361
Open Access URL:	https://doi.org/10.1002/dmrr.3361
Related Websites:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3097269
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