Toll-like receptor 4 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha as diagnostic biomarkers for diabetic peripheral neuropathy

作者：Zhu, Tao^*; Meng, Qingsheng; Ji, Jian; Lou, Xiaoli; Zhang, Lijuan

来源：Neuroscience Letters, 2015, 585: 28-32.

DOI：10.1016/j.neulet.2014.11.020

• Peripheral neuropathy
• Type 2 diabetes mellitus
• Toll-like receptor 4
• Tumor necrosis factor-alpha
• Interleukin-6

Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is one of the most common complications of diabetes, but currently no protein biomarkers have been introduced into clinical diagnosis, especially among early-stage diabetic patients. Our previous study in animal model showed Toll-like receptor (TLR) 4 and its downstream signaling molecules were associated with DPN. To assess the diagnostic values of TLR4, TNF-alpha, and IL-6 as biomarkers, here we detected their expressions in peripheral blood from normal controls, type 2 diabetic and DPN subjects. Both TLR4 mRNA and protein expressions increased significantly in DPN compare with both diabetic and control subjects. The protein levels of TNF-alpha and IL-6 were also raised significantly and correlated with TLR4 expression. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis suggested TLR4 and TNF-alpha had great potential advantages to predict the progression of neuropathy, the risks of DPN were increased in subjects with higher TLR4 (odds ratio: 5.27; 95% CI: 1.02-26.40) and TNF-alpha (odds ratio: 12.67; 95% CI: 2.35-68.22). These findings demonstrated TLR4 and TNF-alpha could be potential sensitive diagnostic biomarkers for DPN in both general population and type 2 diabetic subjects.

• 出版日期2015-1-12
• 单位南京医科大学; 上海交通大学