ABSTRACT
Objective:To evaluate the effect of urinary albumin creatinine ratio (UACR) on diabetic retinopathy (DR) in patients with type 2 diabetes. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was applied to find the cut-off value of UACR for diagnosing DR.Methods:A prospective cohort study of 2 490 patients with type 2 diabetes was conducted with a mean follow-up of 7 years ranging from 3 to 10 years. Dilated fundus examination was performed once a year, and patient history and clinical data were collected and analyzed. Patients were divided into three groups according to the UACR: Q1, normal urinary albumin group (UACR<30 mg/g), Q2, microalbuminuria group (30 mg/g≤UACR≤299 mg/g), and Q3, macroalbuminuria group (UACR>300 mg/g), respectively. Cox regression analysis was used to explore the influence of UACR and other factors on DR, and ROC curve was drawn to evaluate the value of UACR in diagnosis of DR.Results:Cox regression analysis showed that UACR was the risk factor of DR( HR=1.108, 95% CI 1.023-1.241, P<0.001). It showed that the patients in Q3 group had the highest risk of proliferative DR ( HR=3.128, 95% CI 2.025-4.831, P<0.001), the patients in Q2 group followed( HR=1.918, 95% CI 1.355-2.714, P<0.001), and the patients in Q1 group were the lowest. ROC curve analysis showed that area under UACR curve was 0.746(95% CI 0.681-0.812, P<0.001), and the cut-off value, sensitivity, and specificity for the diagnosis of PDR were 54.12mg/g, 0.769, and 0.653, respectively. Conclusion:The UACR can predict the progression of PDR in type 2 diabetes patients, therefore it may be used as a preliminary predictor for the progression of DR.