Supplementation of Micronutrients may Play Vital Role in Diabetic Retinopathy: Study

In a cross-sectional study, the researchers included 517 diabetic patients from the 2005-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. They measured micronutrients using high performance liquid chromatography and converted serum vitamin D levels to liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry-equivalent results. They determined the presence of DR based on non-mydriatic fundus photographs. They further performed a meta-analysis of relevant studies published between January 1, 1990, and December 31, 2020.

Key findings of the study:

• Of the 517 patients, the researchers identified DR in 159 participants (25.17%).
• Upon analysis, they found that serum vitamin C alone was found to be associated with a lower risk of DR after adjusting for multiple confounders.
• In the meta-analysis, that included 35 studies comparing a total of 1,056 patients with DR and 920 controls, they noted that the pooled weighted mean difference (WMD) of vitamin C was -11.01.
• However, they observed no associations between DR and circulating vitamin A or carotenoids.

The authors concluded, "This study demonstrated a significant inverse association between circulating vitamin C level and DR using a [US] population-based dataset. Lower levels of circulating vitamins C, D and E were found in DR patients than those without. More high-quality studies are required to assess the real effects of micronutrients on DR."

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajo.2022.01.005