Association of Platelet Count and Plateletcrit with Nerve Conduction Function and Peripheral Neuropathy in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

AIMS/INTRODUCTION Diabetes has been considered as a 'pro-thrombotic state' with enhanced platelet reactivity. Abnormality in platelet aggregation has been found in patients with its most common chronic complication-diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential association of platelet indices with nerve conduction function and the presence of DPN in Chinese patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). MATERIALS AND METHODS This study involved a total of 211 inpatients with T2DM and 55 healthy individuals of whom nerve conduction studies (NCSs) were performed. DPN was diagnosed according to the American Diabetes Association recommendation. Clinical data were retrospectively collected. RESULTS Patients with diabetes in whom neuropathy developed had lower levels of platelet count (PLT) and plateletcrit (PCT) than healthy controls(P<0.05). Statistically significant associations of low PLT and PCT levels with the reduction of summed amplitude/velocity Z score, and the prolongation of F-wave minimum latency in NCSs were found. Moreover, after multivariate adjustment, logistic regression analysis showed that low levels of PLT [OR: 2.268, 95% CI: 1.072-4.797; P<0.05; PLT<226 vs PLT≥226] and PCT [OR:2.050, 95% CI: 1.001-4.201; P<0.05; PCT<0.222 vs PCT≥0.222] in T2DM patients were risk factors for the presence of DPN. CONCLUSIONS Lower PLT and PCT levels are closely associated with poorer peripheral nerve conduction functions and the presence of neuropathy in patients with T2DM, which suggests that PLT and PCT may be potential bio-markers for indicating DPN.