COVID-19 and neuropathy in type 2 diabetes

Ponirakis, Georgios, Al-Janahi, Ibrahim, Elgassim, Einas, Al Obaidan, Aisha, Gad, Hoda, Petropoulos, Ioannis N., Khan, Adnan, Zaghloul, Hadeel B., Ali, Hamda, Siddique, Mashhood A., Mohamed, Fatima F. S., Ahmed, Lina H. M., Dakroury, Youssra, El Shewehy, Abeer M. M., Al-Thani, Shaikha N., Ahmed, Farheen, Hussein, Rawan, Mahmoud, Salah, Salivon, Iuliia, Homssi, Moayad, Hadid, Nebras H., Ali, Ateeque Mohamed, Khan, Safah, Mahfoud, Ziyad R., Zirie, Mahmoud A., Bitirgen, Gulfidan, Al-Ansari, Yousuf, Alhatou, Mohammed I., Atkin, Stephen L. and Malik, Rayaz A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7188-8903 (2025) COVID-19 and neuropathy in type 2 diabetes. Scientific Reports, 15 (1). 11188. ISSN 2045-2322

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Abstract

This study investigated the risk factors for COVID-19 and its impact on diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Patients with T2D underwent assessments with the NICE post-COVID questionnaire, DN4 questionnaire, vibration perception threshold (VPT), and corneal confocal microscopy (CCM) before and 11.0 ± 8.9 months after developing COVID-19. Of 76 participants with T2D, 35 (46.1%) developed COVID-19, of whom 8 (22.9%) developed severe COVID-19 and 9 (25.7%) developed long-COVID. The development of COVID-19 was associated with lower systolic blood pressure (P < 0.05). The presence and severity of DPN were not associated with developing COVID-19, severe COVID-19, or long-COVID (P = 0.42–0.94). Women were eight times more likely to develop long-COVID (P < 0.05) and elevated body weight, LDL, and VPT were associated with the development of long-COVID (P < 0.05 − 0.01). The long-COVID group exhibited significant changes in triglycerides and LDL (P < 0.05 for both) and body weight (P < 0.01) at follow-up. Their impact on clinical and neuropathy measures was comparable in patients with and without COVID-19 (P = 0.08–0.99). There was a significant reduction in corneal nerve measures (P < 0.05-0.0001) in patients with and without COVID-19. A low systolic blood pressure, altered lipids, body weight, higher VPT, and gender may determine the impact of COVID-19 in patients with T2D, but there was no evidence of an impact of COVID-19 on the development or progression of DPN.