Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2025 Mar 21:112123. doi: 10.1016/j.diabres.2025.112123. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a common microvascular complication of diabetes mellitus (DM). A number of studies have investigated if patients with diabetic retinopathy present altered arterial stiffness compared to diabetic individuals without retinopathy.
OBJECTIVES: To compare arterial stiffness parameters in participants with diabetic retinopathy (DR) compared to participants with diabetes without retinopathy METHODS: Medline and Scopus were searched for published articles comparing indices of arterial stiffness in participants with DR and in diabetic participants without retinopathy. Standardized Mean Difference (SMD) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated for the comparisons. The study protocol was registered with PROSPERO with registration ID: CRD42023482577.
RESULTS: The meta-analysis analyzed 3 arterial stiffness parameters brachial ankle PWV, carotid-femoral PWV and augmentation index (AI). 8 studies were included in the analysis of brachial ankle PWV, 4 in the analysis of carotid-femoral PWV and 4 in the analysis of the augmentation index. Brachial ankle PWV, carotid-femoral PWV and augmentation index were found to be increased in participants with DR compared to diabetic participants without DR (SMD = 0.59, 95 %CI = 0.40-0.79, P < 0.00001, I2 = 89 %, SMD = 0.86, 95 %CI = 0.55-1.18P < 0.00001, I2 = 91 % and SMD = 0.23, 95 %CI = 0.13-0.32, P < 0.00001, I2 = 0 %, respectively).
CONCLUSION: Diabetic participants with DR exhibit increased arterial stiffness compared to diabetic participants without DR.
PMID:40122177 | DOI:10.1016/j.diabres.2025.112123