Arterial stiffness is associated with diabetic retinopathy in type 2 diabetes

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between arterial stiffness and diabetic retinopathy. The subjects comprised 1004 patients with type 2 diabetes. Pulse-wave velocity (PWV) was used as a marker of arterial stiffness. Clinical characteristics, including PWV and diabetic retinopathy (DR), were investigated in a cross-sectional study. PWV, duration of diabetes, systolic blood pressure and hemoglobin A1c level were all significantly higher in patients with diabetic retinopathy than in individuals without this disorder. The association between brachial-ankle PWV and diabetic retinopathy remained significant after statistical adjustment, with increasing odds ratios (ORs) from the second quartile (OR, 2.09; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.21-3.61), to the third (OR, 2.80; 95% CI, 1.61-4.86) and fourth (OR, 4.64; 95% CI, 2.54-8.52) quartiles. Diabetic retinopathy was, therefore, associated with arterial stiffness in patients with type 2 diabetes. Our findings also suggested that PWV might be a marker of vascular injury caused by chronic hyperglycemia.