Correlation between vitamin B12 levels and peripheral neuropathy in diabetic patients.

Diabetic peripheral neuropathy is a common and debilitating complication of diabetes mellitus, significantly impacting the quality of life of affected individuals. Vitamin B12 is essential for nerve function and myelin synthesis and its deficiency can lead to neuropathy that resembles diabetic neuropathy. Long-term metformin use in diabetic patients increases the risk of vitamin B12 deficiency, making the relationship between the two critical to explore. The study evaluated the correlation between serum vitamin B12 levels and peripheral neuropathy in type 2 diabetes patients using clinical assessments and vitamin B12 measurement through a chemiluminescent immunoassay. Thus, we show the link between vitamin B12 deficiency and severity of peripheral neuropathy in type 2 diabetes patients on long-term metformin therapy.