The Diagnostic Value of miR-20b-3p and High-Frequency Ultrasound in Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy

Feng, Yanjun; Qian, Xinye; Ye, Liqin; Yan, Xinyu; Liu, Sitong

doi:10.14712/fb2026.0019

Fol. Biol., Online First article

https://doi.org/10.14712/fb2026.0019

The Diagnostic Value of miR-20b-3p and High-Frequency Ultrasound in Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy

Yanjun Feng¹

, Xinye Qian², Liqin Ye³

, Xinyu Yan⁴

, Sitong Liu⁵

¹Shanxi Bethune Hospital, Shanxi Academy of Medical Sciences, Third Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Tongji Shanxi Hospital, Taiyuan 030032, China
²Department of Pain Medicine, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200030, China
³Department of Ultrasound Medicine, The First Hospital of Putian City, Putian 351100, China
⁴Department of Ultrasound, Yangxin County People’s Hospital, Huangshi 435200, China
⁵Health Management Center, Pingliang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Pingliang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine), Pingliang 744000, China

Received January 23, 2026
Accepted April 29, 2026

Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is a major chronic complication of diabetes. Developing accurate, non-invasive and feasible diagnostic strategies is essential for early diagnosis and intervention of DPN. We aimed to detect the serum miR-20b-3p expression and high-frequency ultrasound (HFUS)-measured nerve cross-sectional area (CSA) in DPN patients and explore the combined diagnostic value of the two indicators for DPN. A total of 155 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) were enrolled, including 75 non-DPN patients and 80 DPN patients. The serum miR-20b-3p expression was detected by qRT-PCR, and the CSA of median, ulnar and tibial nerves was measured by HFUS. ROC curve analysis was performed to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of single and combined indicators. Toronto Clinical Scoring System (TCSS) and Michigan Neuropathy Screening Instrument (MNSI) scores were collected, and Pearson correlation analysis was used to analyse the correlations of miR-20b-3p and nerve CSA with clinical scores. DPN patients showed significantly down-regulated serum miR-20b-3p and increased CSA of the three peripheral nerves. miR-20b-3p expression was negatively correlated with nerve CSA. Both indicators demonstrated moderate diagnostic efficacy for DPN, and their combination yielded superior diagnostic efficacy, with an AUC of 0.935, sensitivity of 83.7 % and specificity of 90.7 %. Additionally, the miR-20b-3p level and nerve CSA were closely associated with the peripheral nerve function of DPN patients. We conclude that the combination of serum miR-20b-3p and peripheral nerve CSA is a promising novel diagnostic strategy for DPN.