Open AccessAssociation between Serum Vitamin D and Diabetic Retinopathy in Portuguese Patients with Type 1 Diabetes
Author(s) -
Miguel Lopes,
Rita Laiginhas,
Carolina Madeira,
João Sérgio Neves,
M. Barbosa,
Vítor Rosas,
Davide Carvalho,
Fernando FalcãoReis,
Manuel Falcão
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
acta médica portuguesa
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 21
eISSN - 1646-0758
pISSN - 0870-399X
DOI - 10.20344/amp.12890
Subject(s) - medicine , diabetes mellitus , diabetic retinopathy , retinopathy , dyslipidemia , type 2 diabetes , vitamin d and neurology , confounding , vitamin d deficiency , logistic regression , population , endocrinology , gastroenterology , environmental health
Recently, vitamin D has gained importance as a diabetes risk modifier. Our aim was to assess the association between serum vitamin D levels and the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in patients with type 1 diabetes.Material and Methods: Retrospective review of a population of patients with type 1 diabetes followed in a Portuguese tertiary center. Patients were included if they had an ophthalmological evaluation and a serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level determination within the same year. Logistic regression analysis was used to adjust for possible confounders.Results: We included 182 patients (47% male), and 57% (n = 103) had signs of diabetic retinopathy. We found a significant association between lower circulating levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and a greater prevalence of diabetic retinopathy after adjusting for confounders (duration of diabetes, estimated glomerular filtration rate, age, sex, metabolic control, season, dyslipidemia and hypertension) (OR = 0.94; 95% CI 0.90 - 0.99, p = 0.023). Longer duration of diabetes and worse metabolic control also remained associated with diabetic retinopathy in the multivariate analysis (OR = 1.20; 95% CI 1.13 - 1.27, p < 0.001 and OR = 4.13; 95% CI 1.34 - 12.7, p = 0.013, respectively).Conclusion: Lower levels of vitamin D were associated with an increased prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in patients with type 1 diabetes, after adjusting for possible confounders. Future controlled studies may elucidate the molecular routes for this association as well as the role of supplementation in the prevention of diabetes microvascular complications.