Relationship between plasma growth differentiation factor-15 levels and diabetic retinopathy in individuals with type 2 diabetes

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 10; no. 1; p. 20568
• Main Authors: Chung, Jin Ook, Park, Seon-Young, Cho, Dong Hyeok, Chung, Dong Jin, Chung, Min Young
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 25.11.2020; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 692/163; 692/699/2743; Adult; Aged; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diabetes; Diabetes mellitus (non-insulin dependent); Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - metabolism; Diabetic retinopathy; Diabetic Retinopathy - metabolism; Female; Growth Differentiation Factor 15 - blood; Growth Differentiation Factor 15 - metabolism; Growth Differentiation Factors - blood; Growth Differentiation Factors - metabolism; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; multidisciplinary; Plasma; Republic of Korea - epidemiology; Retinopathy; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Severity of Illness Index; Republic of Korea
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-77584-z

The purpose of our study was to investigate the relationship between plasma growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) concentrations and diabetic retinopathy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). We evaluated 235 patients with type 2 DM in a cross-sectional study. Significantly increased levels of the plasma GDF-15 were found in individuals with diabetic retinopathy versus those without. According to the degree of diabetic retinopathy, there was a significant difference in the average plasma GDF-15 levels (no diabetic retinopathy, 1114 ng/L; nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy, 1327 ng/L; proliferative diabetic retinopathy, 1445 ng/L; p for trend = 0.035) after adjustments for confounders. Logistic regression analyses indicated that plasma GDF-15 concentrations were significantly associated with diabetic retinopathy (odds ratio per 1 standard deviation increment in the log-transformed value, 1.78; 95% confidence interval, 1.05–3.03, p  = 0.032). Our study showed a significant positive relationship between plasma GDF-15 concentrations and diabetic retinopathy in type 2 DM patients.