Relationship of Skin Autofluorescence to Severity of Retinopathy in Type 2 Diabetes

AbstractPurpose: To evaluate the relationship between skin autofluorescence (SAF), which reflects the accumulation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs), and the severity of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in patients with type 2 diabetes.Methods: Sixty-seven eyes of 67 patients with type 2 diabetes were enrolled. Sixty-seven age-matched non-diabetic subjects served as controls. Diabetic patients were classified by the severity of their DR: no DR (NDR), non-proliferative DR (NPDR), and proliferative DR (PDR). SAF was measured with an autofluorescence reader.Results: SAF in the diabetes patients was significantly higher than in the controls (median 2.5 (interquartile range 2.3–2.7) and 1.8 (1.6–2.3) arbitrary unit (AU), respectively, p < 0.001). There was a statistically significant increase in SAF along with the increasing severity of DR (from NDR to NPDR: p = 0.034; NPDR to PDR: p < 0.01). Logistic regression analysis revealed that SAF (OR, 17.2; p < 0.05) was an independent factor indicating the presence ...