Increased homocysteine associated with higher proliferative retinopathy risk

The incidence risk for proliferative retinopathy is associated with increased homocysteine concentration, according to a study by diabetologists. Unlike nephropathy, another microvascular complication of diabetes, proliferative retinopathy was not associated with baseline albuminuria concentrations, the study found.

H.C. Looker and colleagues in Phoenix measured homocysteine levels in 396 Pima Indians with type 2 diabetes. Retinopathy was assessed by fundoscopy.

The incidence was assessed in subjects without the complication at baseline and at least one follow-up visit: 212 for retinopathy and 266 for proliferative retinopathy. There were 113 incident cases of retinopathy during a mean follow-up of 7.5 years and 40 cases of proliferative retinopathy during a mean follow up of 8.9 years.

Homocysteine concentrations were not associated with the incidence of any retinopathy, but were associated with the incidence of proliferative retinopathy.

The study is published in Graefe’s Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology.