Correlation between serum homocysteine level and retinal ganglion cell layer thickness in diabetic patients / 眼科新进展

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the correlation between the level of serum homocysteine (Hcy) and the thickness of retinal ganglion cell layer (GCL) on optical coherence tomography (OCT) in patients with type 2 diabetes.Methods Totally 60 diabetic patients were collected from October 2016 to October 2017 in the Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University,and they were divided into two groupsdiabetic patients without retinopathy (NDR group,n =30) and non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy group (NPDR group,n =30) according to the ETDRS classification,and meanwhile additional 30 healthy subjects were enrolled as control group.The level of serum Hcy was detected,and the retinal GCL thickness was measure using OCT in all patients for the analysis of the correlation of serum Hcy level with the thickness of GCL.Results The serum Hcy level was (11.87 ± 2.19) nmol · L-1 in the control group,(14.87 ± 0.42)nmol · L-1 in the NDR group and (20.77 ± 2.40) nmol · L-1 in the NPDR group,which was significantly increased gradually,and the difference was statistically significant (P =0.000),but the thickness of GCL was (88.33 ± 6.36) μm,(81.73 ± 1.41) μm and (64.00 ± 12.73) μm in the three groups,accordingly,which was decreased significantly gradually,with statistically significant difference (P =0.000).Along with the progress of fundus lesions,the level of serum Hcy increased,but the thickness of GCL decreased,and there was a significant negative correlation of the serum Hcy level with the thickness of GCL in the retina by Pearson (r =-0.908,P =0.000).Conclusion The increase of serum Hcy level in diabetic patients is associated with the decrease of retinal GCL thickness,and Hcy is involved in neurodegenerative changes in patients with diabetic retinopathy.