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Serum albumin is associated with peripheral nerve function in patients with type 2 diabetes

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Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the association between serum albumin concentrations and nerve conduction (NC) parameters in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). A total of 409 T2DM patients were enrolled between October 2010 and April 2014. All participants underwent nerve conduction studies. The composite Z scores for NC parameters including conduction velocity (CV), amplitude, and latency were calculated as well. Serum albumin was measured by Bromcresol Green dye-binding method. The composite Z scores of CV and amplitude increased with the increasing albumin tertiles (test for trend, both P < 0.001), while the composite Z score of latency decreased with increasing albumin tertiles (test for trend, P < 0.001). After adjusting for age, sex, duration, and HbA1c, higher serum albumin concentrations were associated with higher composite Z scores of CV (β = 0.314, P < 0.001), amplitude (β = 0.279, P < 0.001), and lower composite Z score of latency (β = −0.279, P < 0.001). When participants were stratified into albuminuria and normoalbuminuria group, we found the associations of serum albumin with composite Z scores of NC parameters remained significant only in the albuminuria group (CV Z score: β = 0.253, P = 0.002; amplitude Z score: β = 0.233, P = 0.006; latency Z score: β = −0.217 P = 0.013) after further adjustment for urinary albumin to creatinine ratio. The optimal cutoff point of serum albumin to indicate abnormal peripheral nerve function was 36.75 g/L in T2DM patients with albuminuria, with a sensitivity of 65.6 % and a specificity of 78.0 %. Serum albumin was independently associated with peripheral nerve function in T2DM patients, especially in those with albuminuria. Serum albumin could be a potential biomarker for diabetic peripheral neuropathy.

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Abbreviations

T2DM:

Type 2 diabetes

DPN:

Diabetic peripheral neuropathy

NCSs:

Nerve conduction studies

NC:

Nerve conduction

CV:

Conduction velocity

ACR:

Urinary albumin to creatinine ratio

HbA1c:

Glycated hemoglobin

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all of the involved clinicians, nurses, and technicians for dedicating their time and skill to the completion of this study. This work was supported by the Science and Technology Innovation Fund of Shanghai Jinshan district, China (2011-3-16) and the Programs of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81170760; 81300666).

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We declare that we have no conflict of interest.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People’s Hospital, Shanghai Diabetes Institute, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Diabetes Mellitus, Shanghai Clinical Center for Diabetes, 600 Yishan Road, Shanghai, 200233, People’s Republic of China

      Lu Li, Jingyi Lu, Congrong Wang & Weiping Jia

    2. Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People’s Hospital Jinshan Branch, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China

      Bo Liu & Yingdi Shen

    3. Department of Electrophysiology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People’s Hospital, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China

      Lan Jiang

    4. Center for Translational Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Diabetes Mellitus, The Metabolic Diseases Biobank, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People’s Hospital, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China

      Yinan Zhang

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    1. Lu Li
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    Correspondence to Congrong Wang.

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    Lu Li and Bo Liu have contributed equally to this study.

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    Li, L., Liu, B., Lu, J. et al. Serum albumin is associated with peripheral nerve function in patients with type 2 diabetes. Endocrine 50, 397–404 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12020-015-0588-8

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