Diabetic Neuropathic Pain and Circadian Rhythm: A Future Direction Worthy of Study

Baozhong Yang,1,* Wei Wei,1,2,* Jun Fang,1,2 Yating Xue,1,2 Jiacheng Wei1,2 1Department of Anaesthesiology, Taiyuan Central Hospital, Taiyuan, People’s Republic of China; 2School of Anesthesia, Shanxi Medical University, Shanxi, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Baozhong Yang, Email [email protected]: More than half of people with diabetes experience neuropathic pain. Previous research has shown that diabetes patients’ neuropathic pain exhibits a circadian cycle, which is characterized by increased pain sensitivity at night. Additional clinical research has revealed that the standard opioid drugs are ineffective at relieving pain and do not change the circadian rhythm. This article describes diabetic neuropathic pain and circadian rhythms separately, with a comprehensive focus on circadian rhythms. It is hoped that this characteristic of diabetic neuropathic pain can be utilized in the future to obtain more effective treatments for it.Keywords: diabetic neuropathies, circadian rhythm, pain, chronotherapy, microglia, sex characteristics