Association of Lipid Profile with Severity of Retinopathy in Patients with Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus Srivastava Mitali1, Kumar Annapurna2,*, Sumathi S3 1Postgraduate Student, Department of Biochemistry, Sri Manakula Vinayagar Medical College and Hospital, Pondicherry University, Pondicherry, India 3Professor and Head, Department of Biochemistry, Sri Manakula Vinayagar Medical College and Hospital, Pondicherry University, Pondicherry, India 2Professor and Head, Department of Ophthalmology, Karpaga Vinayaga Institute of Medical Sciences, Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University, Tamil Nadu, India *Corresponding author email id: annapurna200@gmail.com
Online published on 10 December, 2015. Abstract Background Diabetic retinopathy is a leading cause of visual morbidity. Duration of diabetes, hypertension and poor glycaemic control are known risk factors for retinopathy. However, the role of dyslipidemia is less clear as various studies give conflicting results. Aim To determine the association of serum lipids with retinopathy in patients with type2 diabetes mellitus. Settings and design This was a cross-sectional study conducted on patients with type-2 diabetes mellitus presenting to the ophthalmology outpatient department. Methodology About 100 patients with type-2 diabetes mellitus with a normal BMI were examined for retinopathy. The patients were divided into diabetics without retinopathy, mild non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR), moderate NPDR and severe NPDR. HbA1c, fasting blood glucose and fasting lipid profile were evaluated. Statistical analysis Descriptive statistics were followed by an unpaired t-test to compare the groups. Pearson's test was used to assess the nature of correlation between the study population and variables. A p value of <0.05 was considered significant. Results Age, duration of diabetes, systolic and diastolic blood pressure correlated significantly with severity of retinopathy. Laboratory parameters showing a significant correlation with severity of retinopathy were fasting blood sugar= 0.480 (p<0.001, glycated haemoglobin r= 0.460 (p<0.001), triglycerides r= 0.279 (p= 0.005), total cholesterol r= 0.246 (p=0.014), LDL, r= 0.238 (p=0.017) and VLDL, r= 0.292 (P= 0.003). HDL correlated negatively with retinopathy (r= “0.038) but was not significant. Conclusion Serum lipids excepting HDL were found to have a significant correlation with the presence of and severity of diabetic retinopathy. Top Keywords Lipids, Diabetic retinopathy, Visual morbidity, Lipid profile, Microvascular complications. Top |