Albuminuria is closely associated with diabetic retinopathy (DR), but the precise role of the albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) in screening for DR remains to be determined. This study aimed to investigate an ACR threshold for predicting DR in patients with type 2 diabetes. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 1,102 type 2 diabetes patients, aged ≥30 years and recruited from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2010–2011. Participants were grouped by stage of DR: mild-to-moderate nonproliferative DR (NPDR), severe NPDR, and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). An early morning spot urine sample was obtained for ACR measurement. ROC curve analysis revealed that the optimal cut-off value of ACR for predicting DR was 2.26 mg/mmol (20 μg/mg). The prevalence of ACR ≥ 2.26 mg/mmol tended to increase with severity of DR. The risk for DR in patients with ACR ≥ 2.26 mg/mmol was higher than in those with ACR < 2.26 mg/mmol. The risk for severe NPDR and PDR also increased at ACR ≥ 2.26 mg/mmol. Normal-to-mildly increased albuminuria (an ACR of 2.26 mg/mmol) may predict the risk for DR development and progression in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Obesity is a well-known risk factor for type 2 diabetes, but few data exist on the association between weight changes and diabetes risk in non-obese subjects. This study aimed to investigate the effect of weight changes on the incidence of type 2 diabetes in Korea, using 51,405 non-diabetic subjects. Individuals who developed type 2 diabetes were more likely to be older and male, to have high body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, and total cholesterol, to be current smokers and frequent drinkers, to be hypertensive and hyperlipidemic, and to have a family history of diabetes, compared to those without type 2 diabetes. Compared with the consistently non-obese group, there was a higher hazard ratio for incident diabetes (95% confidence interval) in subjects becoming obese [1.49 (1.26–1.77)] and remaining obese [2.56 (2.34–2.81)] after adjustment for confounding factors. Decreased BMI was significantly associated with lower risks for incident diabetes and the trends were more evident in the non-obese group. However, overall there was no significant association of increased BMI with incident diabetes. In conclusion, weight loss was significantly associated with lower risk for diabetes both in non-obese and obese Koreans, but particularly in the non-obese.
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