Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy: Emerging Treatments of Neuropathic Pain and Novel Diagnostic Methods

BACKGROUND: Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is a prevalent and debilitating complication of diabetes, often leading to severe neuropathic pain. Although other diabetes-related complications have witnessed a surge of emerging treatments in recent years, DPN has seen minimal progression. This stagnation stems from various factors, including insensitive diagnostic methods and inadequate treatment options for neuropathic pain.

METHODS: In this comprehensive review, we highlight promising novel diagnostic techniques for assessing DPN, elucidating their development, strengths, and limitations, and assessing their potential as future reliable clinical biomarkers and endpoints. In addition, we delve into the most promising emerging pharmacological and mechanistic treatments for managing neuropathic pain, an area currently characterized by inadequate pain relief and a notable burden of side effects.

RESULTS: Skin biopsies, corneal confocal microscopy, transcutaneous electrical stimulation, blood-derived biomarkers, and multi-omics emerge as some of the most promising new techniques, while low-dose naltrexone, selective sodium-channel blockers, calcitonin gene-related peptide antibodies, and angiotensin type 2 receptor antagonists emerge as some of the most promising new drug candidates.

CONCLUSION: Our review concludes that although several promising diagnostic modalities and emerging treatments exist, an ongoing need persists for the further development of sensitive diagnostic tools and mechanism-based, personalized treatment approaches.