Investigation of diabetic patient’s fingernail quality to monitor type 2 diabetes induced tissue damage

Abstract

Long-term Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) affects the normal functioning of heart, kidneys, nerves, arteries, bones, and joints. The T2D gradually alters the intrinsic material properties, and structural integrity of the tissues and prolonged hyperglycemia causes chronic damages to these tissues quality. Clinically no such technique is available which can assess the altered tissues quality associated with T2D. In the present study, the microstructural characterization (surface morphology, surface roughness and density and calcium content), material characterization (modulus, hardness), and macromolecular characterization (disulfide bond content, protein content and its secondary structure) are investigated among healthy, diabetic controlled (DC) and uncontrolled diabetic (UC) group of fingernail plate. It is found that T2D has an adverse effect on the human fingernail plate quality. The parameters of nail plate quality are changing in a pattern among all the three groups. The properties mentioned above are degrading in DC group, but the degradation is even worst in the case of severity of T2D (UC group) as compared to the healthy group (Healthy<DC<UC). This study suggests that the fingernail plate quality has a potential to become a new avenue to assess the secondary diabetic complications, i.e. to assess the bone quality.

Calcium and Silicon Delivery to Artificial and Human Nails from Nail Polish Formulations

“…While considerable research and drug development efforts are in place to diminish the major risks related to being diagnosed with diabetes, there are still problematic areas where adequate solutions are lacking. Diabetic patients often have a deteriorated nail standard since the breakdown of sugar can affect the quality of the nail plate [2,3]. In fact, the fingernail quality, as manifested through the calcium content, density, porosity, roughness, hardness, protein, and disulphide bond content, has been investigated as a means to monitor tissue damage in type 2 diabetes patients [3].…”

“…Other components of the nail plate are water (7-25%), lipids (0.1-1.0%), and calcium [5]. The importance of calcium in the keratinized structure of the nail has persistently been investigated [6] and its depletion in the nail plate has been demonstrated in diabetes patients [3]. Additionally, clinical studies have shown that the oral intake of silicon supplements can significantly reduce nail brittleness [7].…”

“…Smaller molecules are expected to permeate well through the nail plate [5]. Besides, an enhanced permeability is expected in afflicted nails due to the higher porosity, lower density, lower hardness, lower protein, and lower disulphide bond content [3,15].…”

Vibrational Spectroscopy for Detection of Diabetes: A Review

“…This research poses an interesting avenue for the exploration of secondary complications due to T2DM, with a potential to translate the changes observed within fingernail plates into an early and noninvasive diagnostic mechanism in the future. 73 Coopman et al 74 also investigated fingernails, this time using ATR FT-IR spectroscopy as a tool for assessing glycation in diabetics. Fingernail clippings were obtained and analyzed from 105 healthy individuals and 127 individuals with T2DM.…”

Can fingernail quality predict bone damage in Type 2 diabetes mellitus? a pilot study

“…Our previous study have shown that the microstructural and macromolecular characteristics of fingernails are degraded in patients with T2DM [17]. Accordingly, we have hypothesized that the fingernail plate has the potential to serve as a potential surrogate marker to predict bone damage in diabetes because of the following reason: (i) The major constituent of fingernail plate (Keratin, present in ±85%) is also prone to glycation [17][18][19][20].…”