Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy Associated with Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Concentrations Among Newly Diagnosed Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

PURPOSE: This study was aimed at the prevalence, cardiovascular risk factors of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN), and the relationship between DPN and fasting glucagon-like peptide-1 (fGLP-1) concentrations in newly diagnosed patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (nT2D). METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted from 2015 to 2020 with a population of 473 nT2D. Screening for DPN was based on the United Kingdom screening test. fGLP-1 was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: The prevalence of DPN was 26.6%, in which mild grade was 17.3%, moderate grade was 8.2% and severe grade was 1.1% in total. Age (OR = 1.73, 95% CI 1.12–2.67, p = 0.012), smoking (OR = 1.64, 95% CI 1.03–2.62, p = 0.037), poor control HbA1c (OR = 2.66, 95% CI 1.23–5.76, p = 0.01), 24-h urinary albumin (24hUA) (OR = 2.49, 95% CI 1.26–4.94, p = 0.007), and diabetic retinopathy (OR = 3.17, 95% CI 1.46–6.89, p = 0.002) significantly increased the risk for DPN. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, hypertension (OR = 2.96, 95% CI 1.16–7.55, p = 0.023), triglyceride (OR = 1.50, 95% CI 1.11–2.03, p = 0.009), albumin (OR = 0.85, 95% CI 0.75–0.95, p = 0.005), and fGLP-1 (OR = 0.79, 95% CI 0.67–0.93, p = 0.005) correlated with DPN. The fGLP-1 concentrations were reduced significantly in DPN (p < 0.001). In particular, male patients with DPN had a significantly lower fGLP-1 levels than those without DPN (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of DPN among nT2D was 26.6%. Age, smoking, hypertension, HbA1c control, triglyceride, albumin, 24hUA, diabetic retinopathy were the associated risk factors of DPN, and fGLP-1 was negatively correlated with DPN (OR = 0.79, 95% CI 0.67–0.93, p = 0.005).