Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of inflammatory/lipid markers and potential risk factors for diabetic retinopathy (DR) development in newly diagnosed patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).
Methods: Participants in this study were 1062 patients with newly diagnosed T2DM. Demographic and clinical data of patients were collected. Assessment of DR status was performed using digital two-field photography. In addition, HbA1c (%), lipid profile, and urinary albumin were measured at recruitment. The following inflammatory markers were also measured: serum C-reactive protein, white blood cells, platelet, adiponectin, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, vascular endothelial growth factor, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), IL-1b, IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RA), and monocyte chemotactic protein-1. Univariate and multivariate analyses of the association of various potential risk factors and DR were conducted.
Results: Univariate analysis showed that male sex, any cardiovascular event, and HbA1c were positively associated with DR, while IL-1RA, IL-1b, IL-6, and TNF-α were significantly negatively associated with presence of DR in the cohort. Risk factors that remained significantly associated with DR presence at the multivariate analysis were male sex, any cardiovascular event, HbA1c, and IL-1RA.
Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that HbA1c levels, male sex, and previous cardiovascular events were risk factors for presence of DR in people with newly diagnosed T2DM, while IL-1RA seemed to have a protective role. The prevalence of DR in our population was 20.2%, reflecting current practice. Our findings may contribute to future risk-based modelling of screening for DR.