Association between uric acid/high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol ratio and the presence of diabetic retinopathy

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate the hypothesis that the uric acid–to–high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio (UHR) may serve as a potential biomarker for predicting diabetic retinopathy (DR) in patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Methods: A total of 175 patient files were retrospectively analyzed between January 2023 and June 2024 at the Ophthalmology Clinic of Bolu Abant Izzet Baysal University. The study consisted of 100 diabetic patient files with diabetic retinopathy and 75 diabetic patient files without diabetic retinopathy. The parameters were recorded, and the calculated parameter was the Uric Acid/HDL Ratio (UHR).

Results: There were marked differences between the DR and control groups in a number of hematological and biochemical variables like Hemoglobin (HGB), High Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (HDL-C), Lymphocyte Count (LYM), Red Blood Cell Distribution Width (RDW), Platelet Distribution Width (PDW), Alanine Transaminase (ALT), Serum Albumin, UHR. UHR correlated positively with RDW and C-reactive protein (CRP) and negatively with HGB, LYM and albumin. In ROC analysis, a UHR >0.1156 showed 86.1% sensitivity and 82.4% specificity in predicting DR. In the multivariate model, UHR was independently associated with diabetic retinopathy, retaining statistical significance (p < 0.001).

Conclusion: The association between UHR and chronic inflammatory parameters emphasizes the importance of inflammation in the pathogenesis of DR and supports its use as a suitable biomarker to determine the likelihood and severity of DR in T2DM patients. Longer-term research is needed to confirm the usefulness of UHR in clinical practice, which has the potential to supplement standard glycemic measurements.