Early biomarkers of neurodegenerative and neurovascular disorders in diabetes

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a common disease worldwide. There is a strong association between DM and neurovascular and neurodegenerative disorders. The first group mainly consists of diabetic retinopathy, diabetic neuropathy and stroke, whereas, the second group includes Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, mild cognitive impairment and dementia. The aforementioned diseases have a common pathophysiological background including insulin resistance, oxidative stress, atherosclerosis and vascular injury. The increasing prevalence of neurovascular and neurodegenerative disorders among diabetic patients has resulted in an urgent need to develop biomarkers for their prediction and/or early detection. The aim of this review is to present the potential application of the most promising biomarkers of diabetes-related neurodegenerative and neurovascular disorders, including amylin, β-amyloid, C-reactive protein (CRP), dopamine, gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), glycogen synthase kinase 3β, homocysteine, microRNAs (mi-RNAs), paraoxonase 1, phosphoinositide 3-kinases, tau protein and various growth factors. The most clinically promising biomarkers of neurovascular and neurodegenerative complications in DM are hsCRP, GGT, homocysteine and miRNAs. However, all biomarkers discussed in this review could become a part of the potential multi-biomarker screening panel for diabetic patients at risk of neurovascular and neurodegenerative complications.