Role of Advanced Glycation End Products in Assessment of Diabetes Mellitus as a Risk Factor for Retinal Vein Occlusion

Aim: In this study, we aimed to assess the correlation between diabetes mellitus (DM) and the retinal vein occlusion (RVO) based on skin autofluorescence (SAF) measurement, which reflects the accumulation of advanced glycation end products (AGE) in patients who have undergone an episode of central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) or branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO). Material and methods: In total, 23 patients (16 males, 7 females) with RVO were included in this study. Among these 23 participants, 12 (52%) had been diagnosed with CRVO and 11 (48%) with BRVO. The control group consisted of 14 healthy volunteers (11 females, 3 males). To calculate the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and DM, we conducted SAF examinations. We compared the SAF levels in three groups of patients: (1) with CRVO, (2) with BRVO, and (3) the control group. Basic demographic and clinical information and detailed history of the concurrent diagnoses of systemic diseases, such as systemic hypertension (HTN), DM, hyperlipidemia (HL), and heart diseases, were obtained. Results: In total, 10 (43.5%) patients were diagnosed with DM, 6 (55%) in the BRVO group and 4 (33%) in the CRVO group. The mean SAF value was significantly higher in the BRVO group than in the control group (2.64 a.u. and 2.35 a.u., respectively) (p = 0.023). More patients with risk of DM were identified in the CRVO group than in the BRVO group (p = 0.024). Conclusions: The advanced glycation end products (AGE) in the skin autofluorescence (SAF) is a viable method of evaluating the risk of DM in patients with RVO. We confirmed a correlation between RVO and DM, which was significantly pronounced in the CRVO form, although further carefully devised studies on the relationship between RVO and DM with a larger number of responders should be conducted in the future.