Ethanolamine as a biomarker and biomarker-based therapy for diabetic retinopathy in glucose-well-controlled diabetic patients

• DOI: 10.1016/j.scib.2023.12.053
• Publication Date: 2024-01-02T17:39:53Z
• Authors: Guangyi Hu; Liping Gu; Ruonan Wang; Qizhi Jian; Kangjia Lv; Mengxue Xia; Mengyu Lai; Tingting Shen; Jing Hu; Sen Yang; Cunqi Ye; Xiaonan Zhang; Yufan Wang; Xun Xu; Fang Zhang

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the leading cause of blindness among working-age population. Although controlling blood glucose levels effectively reduces incidence and development DR to less than 50%, there are currently no diagnostic biomarkers or effective treatments for in glucose-well-controlled diabetic patients (GW-DR). In this study, we established a prospective GW-DR cohort by strictly adhering glycemic control guidelines maintaining regular retinal examinations over median 2-year follow-up period. The discovery encompassed 71 individuals selected from pool 292 recruited at baseline, all whom consistently maintained hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) below 7% without experiencing hypoglycemia. Within individuals, 21 subsequently experienced new-onset GW-DR, resulting an rate 29.6%. validation cohort, also observed significant 17.9%. Employing targeted metabolomics, investigated metabolic characteristics serum revealing association between lower ethanolamine risk. This was corroborated exhibiting superior performance distinguishing diabetes compared conventional risk factor HbA1c, with AUCs 0.954 versus 0.506 0.906 0.521 cohorts, respectively. Furthermore, streptozotocin (STZ)-induced rat model, attenuated inflammation, accompanied suppression microglial diacylglycerol (DAG)-dependent protein kinase C (PKC) pathway activation. conclusion, propose that potential biomarker represents viable biomarker-based therapeutic option GW-DR.