Bay Biosciences provides high quality, clinical grade bio-specimens, matched serum, plasma and PBMC samples from patients diagnosed with diabetic neuropathy.

The K2EDTA plasma and PBMC bio-fluid specimens are processed from patient’s peripheral whole-blood using customized collection and processing protocols.

Diabetic Neuropathy Overview

Neuropathy happens when high levels of fats or sugar in the blood damage the nerves in the body. It can affect virtually any nerve in the body, with a wide range of symptoms.

Nerves are essential to how the body works. They enable people to move, send messages about how things feel, and control automatic functions, such as breathing.

There are several types. Some involve the peripheral nerves, while others damage the nerves that supply the internal organs, such as the heart, the bladder, and the gut. In this way, it can affect many body functions.

Between one-third and a half of people with diabetes have neuropathy, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).

Types of Diabetic Neuropathy

Four main types of neuropathy can impact on the nervous system, including:

• Autonomic neuropathy: This occurs in the nerves that control involuntary functions of the body, such as digestion, urination, or heart rate. 
• Mononeuropathies: These can affect any individual nerve.
• Peripheral symmetric neuropathy: This affects the feet and hands. It is the most common form of diabetic neuropathy.
• Thoracic and lumbar root, or proximal, neuropathy: This damages nerves along a specific distribution in the body, such as the chest wall or legs.

The symptoms of neuropathy depend on the type and the nerves involved.

Symptoms of Diabetic Neuropathy

The signs and symptoms of diabetic neuropathy usually take several years to appear. Signs and symptoms will depend on which type of neuropathy and nerves it affects.

Autonomic Neuropathy

The effects of autonomic neuropathy include:

• A faster heart rate than normal 
• Bladder problems, for example, difficulty emptying the bladder completely when urinating, leading to incontinence.
• Constipation, diarrhea and nausea 
• Dysesthesia, or a distorted sense of touch
• Difficulties speaking or swallowing  
• Excessive sweating, even in cool temperatures or while at rest
• Feeling full after eating small amounts of food
• Heartburn and bloating
• Hypoglycemic unawareness, in which a person does not feel the effects of low sugar levels
• Muscle contractions and weakness
• Sexual dysfunction in men and women
• Significant drooping of the face and eyelids
• Orthostatic hypotension, or feeling light-headed and dizzy when standing up
• Vomiting several hours after eating

Peripheral Neuropathy

The symptoms of peripheral neuropathy include:

• Charcot’s joint, in which a joint breaks down because of nerve issues, often in the feet
• Loss of muscle tone in the hands and feet
• Not being able to feel heat, cold, or physical injury
• Loss of balance
• Numbness, pain, tingling, and burning sensations starting in the toes and fingers then continuing up the legs or arms 

Peripheral neuropathy that affects the feet can make it difficult for a person to stand and walk. It can increase the risk of falling.

When a person cannot feel heat, cold or injury, this can lead to new problems.

For example, a blister on the foot can become ulcerated because the person did not feel pain in the early stages. As the infection progresses, gangrene can develop.

Eventually, amputation may be necessary.

Other Types of Neuropathy

There are many types of neuropathy.

Proximal neuropathy can lead to pain in the lower body, often on one side, and weakness in the legs.

Symptoms of focal neuropathy can vary widely, depending on the nerve affected. Focal neuropathy and cranial neuropathy can both lead to visual disturbances, such as double vision.

People with diabetic neuropathy often do not realize they have it until the symptoms are more advanced.

Diagnosis of Diabetic Neuropathy

A physician will carry out a physical exam and foot exam to check for:

• Ankle reflexes
• Changes in skin texture
• Loss of sensation
• Changes in skin color

Other tests may include a check of blood pressure and fluctuations in heart rate.

If the doctor suspects diabetic neuropathy, they may run some diagnostic tests, such as:

• An electromyogram (EMG), which records electrical activity in the muscles
• A nerve conduction velocity test (NCV) which records the speed at which induced signals pass through the nerves

Treatment of Diabetic Neuropathy

Most types of diabetic neuropathy gets worse over time.

The first step for people with any type is to bring blood sugars within a target range agreed with a doctor and manage high blood pressure (hypertension) and cholesterol levels.

Managing glucose levels will minimize the risk of diabetic neuropathy. A key part of treatment focuses on reducing pain and managing some of the symptoms.

Certain medications and types of physical therapy can help to control the pain of diabetic neuropathy, alongside other treatments. However, they cannot repair the nerves.

Patients should also avoid or stop smoking and limit their alcohol intake to a maximum of one drink a day for women and two for men.

Medications

Drugs that can help to manage pain include:

• Anticonvulsant drugs
• Opioids and nonopioid pain relief medication
• Tricyclic antidepressants

Opioid use can lead to dependency, so doctors should prescribe as low a dose as possible.

A person with diabetic neuropathy might use other types of antidepressants, such as serotonin-norepinephrine inhibitors, to target other painful symptoms of diabetic neuropathy.

Topical lotions, compound creams, and some supplements, such as ALA or topical capsaicin, may also provide relief.

Physical Therapy

Physical therapy, used in combination with medications, might help relieve pain and reduce the risk of dependency on opioids.

It may also help alleviate the following conditions:

• Burning and tingling sensations in the legs and feet
• Muscle cramps
• Sexual dysfunction 
• Muscle weakness

Electrical nerve stimulation is a painless type of physical therapy that might help to reduce feelings of stiffness and enhance the healing of foot ulcers.

Gait training involves relearning how to walk. It helps to prevent and stabilize foot complications, such as ulcers and injury. This type of physical re-education is crucial for people using prosthesis after losing limbs if diabetic neuropathy leads to an amputation.

A good physical therapist will ensure that exercises for people with diabetic neuropathy do not hurt the feet, which can be sensitive.

Other therapies include devices that a person can use to keep painful or sensitive extremities from touching the bed or chair.

A chiropractor, massage therapist, or osteopath can carry out regular massages or manual therapy to stretch the muscles. Massage can inhibit muscle contractions, spasms, and atrophy due to poor blood supply.

Specific exercises, such as swimming or aerobics, can help an individual develop and maintain muscle strength and reduce the loss of muscle mass.

Therapeutic ultrasound is another type of physical therapy that uses very high-frequency sound waves to stimulate the tissue beneath the skin. This can help some people to regain sensitivity in their feet.

Complications of Diabetic Neuropathy

Diabetic neuropathy can contribute to a number of high-risk complications, ranging from heart rate changes to visual disturbances.

Possible complications include losing sensation in the feet.

This can lead to an inability to feel cuts or sores, and infection might occur as a result. Untreated infection in a limb can result in the need for amputation.

Severe bladder and kidney infections might also occur, causing health problems.

To prevent the complications of diabetic peripheral neuropathy, good foot care is essential.

People with the condition should inspect their feet every day for injuries or sores.

Smoking also increases the risk of foot problems in people with certain types of diabetic neuropathy. A podiatrist can help with foot care, and a healthcare provider can give advice on quitting smoking.

Summary

Diabetic neuropathy is a type of nerve damage that occurs in people who have diabetes.

There are four types: autonomic, peripheral, proximal, and focal neuropathy.

Each affects a different set of nerves and has a different range of effects. Autonomic neuropathy harms automatic processes in the body, such as digestion. Peripheral neuropathy damages nerves in the toes, fingers, hands, and feet.

Diagnosis includes a range of scans, and tests for ankle reflexes, sensation, and skin texture and tone.

Treatment involves several types of physical therapy and medication to control pain and nerve conduction.

As patients with diabetic neuropathy tend not to feel injuries on the feet, regular inspection of the feet is necessary to avoid undetected infection and the possible loss of limbs.

Bay Biosciences is a global leader in providing researchers with high quality, clinical grade, fully characterized human tissue samples, bio-specimens, and human bio-fluid collections.

Samples available include cancer (tumor) tissue, cancer serum, cancer plasma, cancer, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). and human tissue samples from most other therapeutic areas and diseases.

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Our biobank procures and stores fully consented, deidentified and institutional review boards (IRB) approved human tissue samples and matched controls.

All our human tissue collections, human specimens and human bio-fluids are provided with detailed, samples associated patient’s clinical data.

This critical patient’s clinical data includes information relating to their past and current disease, treatment history, lifestyle choices, biomarkers, and genetic information.

Patient’s data is extremely valuable for researchers and is used to help identify new effective treatments (drug discovery & development) in oncology, and other therapeutic areas and diseases.

Bay Biosciences banks wide variety of human tissue samples and biological samples, including cryogenically preserved at – 80°C.

Including fresh frozen tissue samples, tumor tissue samples, formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE), tissue slides, with matching human bio-fluids, whole blood and blood-derived products such as serum, plasma and PBMC.

Bay Biosciences is a global leader in collecting and providing human tissue samples according to the specified requirements and customized, tailor-made collection protocols.

Please contact us anytime to discuss your special research projects and customized human tissue sample requirements.

Types of Biospecimens

Bay Biosciences provides human tissue samples (human specimens) from diseased and normal healthy donors which includes:

• Peripheral whole-blood
• Amniotic fluid
• Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL)
• Sputum
• Pleural effusion
• Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)
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• Plasma
• Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC)
• Saliva
• Buffy coat
• Urine
• Stool samples
• Aqueous humor
• Vitreous humor
• Kidney stones (renal calculi)
• Other bodily fluids from most diseases including cancer.

We can also procure most human bio-specimens, special collections and requests for human samples that are difficult to find. All our human tissue samples are procured through IRB-approved clinical protocols and procedures.

In addition to the standard processing protocols, Bay Biosciences can also provide human plasma, serum, and PBMC bio-fluid samples using custom processing protocols; you buy donor-specific collections in higher volumes and specified sample aliquots from us.

Bay Biosciences also provides human samples from normal healthy donors; volunteers, for controls and clinical research, contact us Now.

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