Retinal arteriolar narrowing predicts incidence of diabetes: the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle (AusDiab) Study

Thanh T Nguyen, Jie Jin Wang, F M Amirul Islam, Paul Mitchell, Robyn J Tapp, Paul Z Zimmet, Richard Simpson, Jonathan Shaw, Tien Y Wong

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

83 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship of retinal vascular caliber to incident diabetes in a population-based cohort.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle (AusDiab) Study recruited adults aged 25+ years across Australia in 1999-2000, with a follow-up 5 years later in 2004-2005. Participants' glycemic status was classified using fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and 2-h oral glucose tolerance (2-h plasma glucose [2hPG]) tests. Diabetes was diagnosed if FPG was >or=7.0 mmol/l or 2hPG was >or=11.1 mmol/l. Retinal vascular caliber was measured from baseline retinal photographs using a computer-assisted program.

RESULTS: Of the 803 participants without diabetes at baseline, 108 (13.4%) developed diabetes at follow-up: 7 (2.8%) of 246 participants with normal glucose tolerance, 9 (13.6%) of 66 participants with impaired fasting glucose, and 92 (18.7%) of 491 participants with impaired glucose tolerance. After multivariate analysis, participants with narrower retinal arteriolar caliber had a higher risk of diabetes (odds ratio 2.21 [95% CI 1.02-4.80], comparing smallest versus highest arteriolar caliber tertiles, P = 0.04 for trend). There was no association between retinal venular caliber and incident diabetes.

CONCLUSIONS: Narrower retinal arteriolar caliber predicted risk of diabetes. These data provide further evidence that microvascular changes may contribute to the pathogenesis of diabetes.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)536-539
Number of pages4
JournalDiabetes Care
Volume57
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2008
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Australia/epidemiology
  • Diabetes Mellitus/epidemiology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Incidence
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Obesity/epidemiology
  • Odds Ratio
  • Retinal Artery Occlusion/complications
  • Risk Factors

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