Advances of research in diabetic cardiomyopathy: diagnosis and the emerging application of sequencing

Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is one of the most prevalent and severe complications associated with diabetes mellitus (DM). The onset of DCM is insidious, with the symptoms being obvious only in the late stage. Consequently, the early diagnosis of DCM is a formidable challenge which significantly influences the treatment and prognosis of DCM. Thus, it becomes imperative to uncover innovative approaches to facilitate the prompt identification and diagnosis of DCM. On the traditional clinical side, we tend to use serum biomarkers as well as imaging as the most common means of diagnosing diseases because of their convenience as well as affordability. As we delve deeper into the mechanisms of DCM, a wide variety of biomarkers are becoming competitive diagnostic indicators. Meanwhile, the application of multiple imaging techniques has also made efforts to promote the diagnosis of DCM. Besides, the spurt in sequencing technology has made it possible to give hints about disease diagnosis from the genome as well as the transcriptome, making diagnosis less difficult, more sensitive, and more predictive. Overall, sequencing technology is expected to be the superior choice of plasma biomarkers for detecting lesions at an earlier stage than imaging, and its judicious utilization combined with imaging technologies will lead to a more sensitive diagnosis of DCM in the future. Therefore, this review meticulously consolidates the progress and utilization of various biomarkers, imaging methods, and sequencing technologies in the realm of DCM diagnosis, with the aim of furnishing novel theoretical foundation and guide future research endeavors towards enhancing the diagnostic and therapeutic landscape of DCM.