Abstract:
Objective
To establish biomarkers for diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) by analyzing plasma transcriptomic profiles and elucidate its underlying mechanisms.
Methods
A prospective clinical cohort study was carried out. A total of 83 subjects were included, including 33 patients with DPN (DPN group) who visited the Neurosurgery Department of China-Japan Friendship Hospital from January to September 2023, 30 healthy subjects (NDM group) and 20 patients with type Ⅱdiabetes (DM group) who were recruited from community near China-Japan Friendship Hospital at the same time. Demographic and clinical information of all subjects were evaluated, and blood samples of 60 patients were sent for plasma transcriptomic sequencing by propensity matching. Feature screening was performed by differential analysis and multiple machine learning algorithms (Lasso regression, Logistic regression, SVM and XGBoost) to establish biomarkers that can predict the occurrence of DPN. Based on key gene features, the possible mechanism of DPN was studied.
Results
A total of 133 differentially expressed genes related to DPN were identified. Through feature screening using Lasso regression,Logistic regression, SVM, and XGBoost, 47 key gene features highly correlated with the occurrence of DPN were identified. GO enrichment and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis showed that 35 genes were associated with protein binding function (P=0.010). The correlation analysis results showed that these genes were significantly correlated with the severity of neuropathy and pain symptoms (P<0.05). GO enrichment and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis showed that the B cell receptor signaling pathway and insulin resistance pathway were significantly enriched, playing a core role in the pathogenesis of DPN.
Conclusions
Based on plasma transcriptomics and multidimensional clinical scales, 47 key gene markers of DPN were revealed, confirming that insulin resistance and abnormal B cell receptor signaling are the core mechanisms of DPN.
Key words:
Diabetic peripheral neuropathy,
Plasma transcriptomics,
Biomarker,
Diagnosis;Machine learning
Heng Zhang, Ge Shi, Ze Zhang, Zhenxuan Gao, Wenqiang Yang, Qi Wang, Li Zhang. Establishment of biomarkers for diabetic peripheral neuropathy based on plasma transcriptomics[J]. Chinese Journal of Neurotraumatic Surgery(Electronic Edition), 2025, 11(02): 127-134.