Background: Previous research has linked Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) with diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN), yet the specific relationship between serum vitamin D levels and the extent of large and small fiber neuropathies in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) remains unclear.
Methods: In this single-center cross-sectional study, 257 elderly T2DM patients were enrolled. To achieve balance in age, sex, and duration of diabetes among study participants, propensity score matching was employed. VDD was identified with serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations below 20 ng/ml. Electromyograms were utilized to evaluate large nerve fiber lesions, while skin conductance measurements were used for assessing small nerve fiber lesions.
Results: In this study, DPN patients exhibited significantly lower serum 25(OH)D levels compared to non-DPN patients [15.05 vs. 18.4 ng/ml, P=0.018]. VDD was identified as an independent risk factor for DPN (odds ratio = 0.959, P = 0.049) in multivariate logistic regression analysis. Spearman's correlation showed that nerve latencies negatively correlated with vitamin D levels, while nerve velocities and amplitudes showed a positive correlation. The group with VDD had longer nerve latencies and motor-evoked potential latencies, yet no significant correlation was found between serum 25(OH)D levels and electrochemical skin conductance.
Conclusions: VDD is independently associated with a higher risk of DPN. VDD may promote the development of DPN by affecting large nerve fibers.
Keywords: diabetic peripheral neuropathy, elderly, propensity score matching, type 2 diabetes mellitus, vitamin D
S. Fei: None. J. Fan: None. Q. Pan: None.
National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 82270881)
