Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) is one of the major complications of diabetes and about 1% of people with diabetes have to go for lower limb amputation. With better understanding of the pathological basis of DFU, number of biomarkers like atrial natriuretic peptides, galectin-3, and cardiac troponins for diabetic cardiomyopathy, cystatin C for diabetics nephropathy and C-reactive protein for infection and procalcitonin could aid in early and noninvasive diagnosis especially when clinical signs are misleading. Predictive role of novel biomarkers in primary prevention however, requires additional studies considering sex, age and multiple complications in DFU. The current review provides an insight about the novel and emerging biomarkers of diabetes and its complications with special reference to DFUs.

Keywords:

Papers of special note have been highlighted as: • of interest; •• of considerable interest

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Published online 14 March 2017

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to V Viswanathan, Managing Director, MV Hospital for diabetes, Royapuram, for his valuable support on this area of research. The authors are grateful to so many collaborators who participated in the process leading to the development of this paper.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

Shivakamasundari Pichu is the recipient of SERB Young Scientist Fellow of Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi, India. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

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