Relationship between hsCRP Levels with the Presence and Severity of Diabetic Retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of visual impairment in patients aged 25 to 74 years. It seems that Inflammation has an important role in the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy, so the aim of this study was to evaluate the association between high sensitive CRP level as inflammation markers and severity of diabetic retinopathy. This cross sectional study was conducted on 342 type II diabetic patients in Mashhad Ghaem and khatam hospital in 1390. Diabetic patients with a history of acute disease or previous inflammation, malignancy, liver or kidney failure, Pregnancy, breastfeeding or usage that interfere with HsCRP levels were excluded from study. Demographic profile from the patients was taken. Ophthalmologic examination was performed for all patients by an expert ophthalmologist. The association between hsCRP levels with the presence and severity of diabetic retinopathy was studied. A total of 342 patients (108 male, 234 female) were enrolled. Prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in our patients was 30.4% (22.08% Non-proliferative retinopathy and 8.32% Proliferative retinopathy). This analysis showed that HbA1C and duration of diabetes were only independent predictive factors for diabetic retinopathy. There was a difference between the serum hsCRP levels of those with and without retinopathy, however, this difference was not significant (p=0.47). In this study, no association was found between hsCRP with the presence and severity of diabetic retinopathy.