ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Endocrinol.
Sec. Clinical Diabetes
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fendo.2025.1680539
This article is part of the Research TopicExploring the Immune-Metabolic Network in DiabetesView all 12 articles
Relationship Between Serum LDH Levels and Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy in Type 2 Diabetic Patients
Provisionally accepted
- 1Ningbo Key Laboratory of Nervous System and Brain Function, Department of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Ningbo University, Ningbo, China
- 2Department of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Provincial Qianfoshan Hospital, Jinan, China
- 3Department of Internal Medicine, Qingdao Public Health Clinical Center, Qingdao, China
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Background: Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is commonly observed as a long-term complication in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Recent evidence suggests that metabolic disturbances and chronic inflammation may contribute to its development. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), a key enzyme in glycolysis, may reflect underlying metabolic stress and inflammation, but its association with DPN remains unclear. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 2,060 patients with T2DM were analyzed to explore the relationship between serum LDH levels and DPN. Logistic regression and restricted cubic spline (RCS) models were used to assess linear and non-linear associations. Participants were also stratified by age, sex, hypertension, and HbA1c levels for subgroup analyses. Results: Among the study population, 724 (35.1%) had DPN. Higher LDH levels were independently associated with an increased risk of DPN after adjusting for potential confounders (adjusted OR per 1 U/L increase: 1.00; 95% CI: 1.00–1.01; P = 0.01). RCS analysis showed a nonlinear relationship, with a threshold at 142 U/L. Participants with LDH >142 U/L had significantly higher odds of DPN (adjusted OR: 1.21; 95% CI: 1.02–1.48; P = 0.033). This association was consistent across subgroups. Conclusion: Serum LDH levels are significantly and non-linearly associated with DPN in individuals with T2DM. LDH may serve as a simple and cost-effective biomarker for identifying patients at elevated risk of neuropathy, warranting further prospective validation.
Keywords: type 2 diabetes mellitus, Diabetic peripheral neuropathy, Lactate dehydrogenase, biomarker, Risk Assessment
Received: 21 Aug 2025; Accepted: 15 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Sun, Wang, Yan, Shen, Yang, Qi, Gao, Huang and Sun. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Yi Huang, huangy102@gmail.com
Jie Sun, fyysunjie@nbu.edu.cn
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