Novel Biomarkers Predictive of Diabetic Charcot Foot—An Overview of the Literature

Abstract

Background: Although Charcot diabetic foot (CDF) is a frequent complication of diabetic neuropathy, less is known about the possibility of its early prevention. Methods: A review of the original articles published in English, using the “biomarkers AND Charcot’s foot” criterion, resulted in 33 articles from the PubMed database and seven articles from the Web of Science database. The five duplicates were eliminated, and two independent reviewers selected the most relevant articles, leaving a total of 21 articles. Results: The biomarkers identified are exhaustively described, related to the system of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and their soluble receptors (sRAGE), inflammatory cascade, osteoclastogenesis, and, respectively, osteoblastic activity. Conclusions: This article highlights the importance of potential early identifiable biomarkers that can lead to microstructural changes in the affected bones.

Keywords

• Charcot diabetic foot
• biomarkers
• neuropathy
• inflammation