Transcriptional profiling of diabetic peripheral neuropathy patients, diabetic patients, and healthy participants

Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is a common complication of diabetes mellitus (DM). It is not diagnosed or managed properly in the majority of patients, because its pathogenesis remains controversial. In this study, using microarray-based genome-wide expression analyses, we sought to identify both common and distinct mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of DM and DPN. The results demonstrated that down-regulation of the neurotrophin-MAPK signaling pathway may be the major mechanism of DPN pathogenesis, thus providing a potential approach for DPN treatment. 6 DPN, 6 DM, and 6 CN