Association Between BMI and Inflammation Among Diabetic Polyneuropathy Patients

Abstract

Background: Inflammation is defined as body tissues response to harmful stimuli. Obesity‑related
inflammation leads to increased risk chronic diseases including diabetic polyneuropathy (DPN).
The present study was performed to determine association between body mass index (BMI) and
inflammatory markers including erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C‑reactive protein (CRP)
in DPN patients.

Methods: In this cross‑sectional study, 200 DPN patients with a mean (SD) of age
58.76 (9.53) years were selected. All patients completed the questionnaire including demographic
data and chronic disease history. In addition, anthropometric measures and clinical laboratory tests
were taken. Multivariate linear regression was used to detect the association between BMI, CRP,
and ESR levels.

Results: BMI was associated with increase in ESR and CRP levels (β‑ESR = 4.67,
P < 0.001 and β‑CRP = 0.71, P < 0.001). Also, this association remained after adjustment for other
different variables.

Conclusions: These findings indicate that higher BMI is related to increase
inflammatory markers including CRP and ESR in DPN patients. Therapies for DPN and reducing
inflammation should target the weight loss among obese patients.

Keywords: Body mass index, C‑reactive protein, diabetes, erythrocyte sedimentation rate,
polyneuropathy