CORRELATION BETWEEN VEGF, IGF-I, CRP, RBP4 AND HCY, AND TYPE 2 DIABETIC RETINOPATHY

Siying Li, Yuqing Wang, Pingping Zhou, Jian Zhang^*

Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jiamusi University, Jiamusi 154002, PR China

Objective: To study the correlation between serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I), C-reactive protein (CRP), retinol binding protein 4 (RBP4) and homocysteine (Hcy), and type 2 diabetic retinopathy. 

Methods: One hundred and twenty patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in our hospital from January 2017 to January 2018 were selected as the study subjects. They were divided into the non-diabetic retinopathy (NDR) group (40 patients) and the diabetic retinopathy (DR) group (80 patients). The DR group was further subdivided into the simple retinopathy (BDR) group (39 patients) and the proliferative retinopathy (PDR) group (41 patients) according to the DR staging criteria. The serum levels of VEGF, IGF-I, CRP, RBP4 and Hcy were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the correlation between the five indexes and type 2 diabetic retinopathy was analyzed. 

Results: The duration of the disease course in the BDR group and in the PDR group was longer than that of the NDR group (P<0.05), and the duration of the PDR group was longer than that of the BDR group (P<0.05); the difference was statistically significant. Serum levels of VEGF, IGF-I, CRP, RBP4 and Hcy in patients in the BDR group and the PDR group were higher than those in the NDR group (P<0.05); VEGF, IGF-I, CRP, RBP4 and Hcy levels in the PDR group were higher than those in the BDR group (P<0.05); the difference was statistically significant. By Pearson correlation analysis, serum VEGF, IGF-I, CRP, RBP4 and Hcy were positively correlated with each other (P<0.05); the difference was statistically significant. Multivariate logistic analysis showed that VEGF, IGF-I, CRP, RBP4 and Hcy were independent risk factors leading to type 2 diabetic retinopathy (P<0.05). 

Conclusion: VEGF, IGF-I, CRP, RBP4 and Hcy are independent risk factors leading to type 2 diabetic retinopathy, and VEGF, IGF-I, CRP, RBP4 and Hcy are positively correlated with each other. Therefore, VEGF, IGF-I, CRP, RBP4 and Hcy levels can be used as early diagnostic tools for DR severity.