Plasma Arginine and Citrulline are Elevated in Diabetic Retinopathy.

PURPOSE: To determine if plasma levels of six arginine-related and citrulline-related metabolites (arginine, citrulline, asymmetric dimethylarginine [ADMA], ornithine, proline, and argininosuccinate) differ between patients with type 2 diabetes and diabetic retinopathy (DR) and type 2 diabetic controls or between patients with proliferative DR (PDR) and non-proliferative DR (NPDR). DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. METHODS: Adults with type 2 diabetes were recruited from the Vanderbilt Eye Institute. Exclusion criteria included non-diabetic retinal disease. Plasma metabolite levels were quantified in 159 diabetic controls and 156 DR patients (92 NPDR, 64 PDR) using isotope dilution liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Metabolite levels were compared using Wilcoxon Rank Sum test and logistic regressions adjusting for age, sex, hemoglobin A1c, diabetes duration, statin use, and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or angiotensin II receptor blocker use. A secondary analysis that included creatinine in the regression model was performed for the subset of patients with available creatinine values (135 diabetic controls, 100 DR patients [58 NPDR, 42 PDR]). RESULTS: Multivariable logistic regression analyses determined that arginine (OR = 1.20, [1.06-1.38], P = .0067) and citrulline (OR = 1.53, [1.20-1.98], P = .0025) were significantly elevated in DR patients compared to diabetic controls. While ADMA differed between NPDR and PDR patients in the primary analysis (OR = 1.56, [1.15-2.16], P = .0051), it was not significantly different when adjusting for creatinine (OR = 1.30, [0.90-1.91], P = .15). CONCLUSIONS: Plasma arginine and citrulline were significantly elevated in type 2 diabetic patients with DR compared to diabetic controls. None of the tested metabolites significantly differed between NPDR and PDR patients in the adjusted analysis.

Mitochondrial Haplogroups Affect Severity But Not Prevalence of Diabetic Retinopathy.

Purpose: We previously reported European mitochondrial haplogroup H to be a risk factor for and haplogroup UK to be protective against proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) among Caucasian patients with diabetic retinopathy (DR). The purpose of this study was to determine whether these haplogroups are also associated with the risk of having DR among Caucasian patients with diabetes. Methods: Deidentified medical records for 637 Caucasian patients with diabetes (223 with DR) were obtained from BioVU, Vanderbilt University's electronic, deidentified DNA databank. An additional 197 Caucasian patients with diabetes (98 with DR) were enrolled from the Vanderbilt Eye Institute (VEI). We tested for an association between European mitochondrial haplogroups and DR status. Results: The percentage of diabetes patients with DR did not differ across the haplogroups (P = 0.32). The percentage of patients with nonproliferative DR (NPDR; P = 0.0084) and with PDR (P = 0.027) significantly differed across the haplogroups. In logistic regressions adjusting for sex, age, diabetes type, duration of diabetes, and hemoglobin A1c, neither haplogroup H nor haplogroup UK had a significant effect on DR compared with diabetic controls. Haplogroup UK was a significant risk factor (OR = 1.72 [1.13-2.59], P = 0.010) for NPDR compared with diabetic controls in the unadjusted analysis, but not in the adjusted analysis (OR = 1.29 [0.79-2.10], P = 0.20). Conclusions: Mitochondrial haplogroups H and UK were associated with severity, but not presence, of DR. These data argue that the effect of these haplogroups is related to ischemia and neovascularization, the defining features of PDR.

Mitochondrial Haplogroups Modify the Effect of Diabetes Duration and HbA1c on Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy Risk in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes.

Purpose: We previously demonstrated an association between European mitochondrial haplogroups and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). The purpose of this study was to determine how the relationship between these haplogroups and both diabetes duration and hyperglycemia, two major risk factors for diabetic retinopathy (DR), affect PDR prevalence. Methods: Our population consisted of patients with type 2 diabetes with (n = 377) and without (n = 480) DR. A Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare diabetes duration and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) among mitochondrial haplogroups. Logistic regressions were performed to investigate diabetes duration and HbA1c as risk factors for PDR in the context of European mitochondrial haplogroups. Results: Neither diabetes duration nor HbA1c differed among mitochondrial haplogroups. Among DR patients from haplogroup H, longer diabetes duration and increasing HbA1c were significant risk factors for PDR (P = 0.0001 and P = 0.011, respectively). Neither diabetes duration nor HbA1c was a significant risk factor for PDR in DR patients from haplogroup UK. Conclusions: European mitochondrial haplogroups modify the effects of diabetes duration and HbA1c on PDR risk in patients with type 2 diabetes. In our patient population, longer diabetes duration and higher HbA1c increased PDR risk in patients from haplogroup H, but did not affect PDR risk in patients from haplogroup UK. This relationship has not been previously demonstrated and may explain, in part, why some patients with nonproliferative DR develop PDR and others do not, despite similar diabetes duration and glycemic control.