Dermatoses Associated with Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes is considered a major health problem, mainly due to its various debilitating complications, including blindness, renal failure, heart attack, stroke, limb amputation, and even death in millions of patients per year. Skin manifestations of diabetes are common in everyday clinical practice but often remain neglected. This review aims to highlight the pathogenetic mechanisms and clinical picture of skin conditions, associated with diabetes mellitus.

 The skin manifestations of diabetes mellitus are related to blood glucose levels. Initially, glycemia affects skin homeostasis by inhibiting keratinocyte proliferation and phagocytosis and inducing endothelial cell apoptosis, while in later stages, the involvement of the peripheral nervous system and vascular changes (micro and macroangiopathy) become the leading pathogenetic factors.

There are different classifications of skin changes in diabetes, depending on the frequency, the onset, or the type of diabetes. The most convenient classification from the practical point of view subdivides cutaneous manifestations into four categories: (A) cutaneous manifestation specific to diabetes; (B) compatible dermatosis not specific to diabetes; (C) skin infection associated with diabetes; and (D) skin manifestation due to antidiabetic therapy.

Diabetes mellitus is associated with a wide range of dermatological disorders. Their recognition is important for the early diagnosis of diabetes and therefore might be helpful to reduce the complication rates.