Relationship between retinal nerve fibre layer thickness and peripheral neuropathy in patients with type 2 diabetes

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Objective To investigate the relationship between retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) thickness and peripheral neuropathy in patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods Ninety-eight cases diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in the Department of Endocrinology in Beijing Hospital from March 2014 to June 2015 were enrolled in this study. Global and sectoral RNFL thicknesses were measured at 3.45 mm diameter around the optic nerve head using optical coherence tomography(OCT), and conduction velocity of peripheral nerve was measured in all cases. According to the diagnosis of diabetic neuropathies, participants were divided into 3 groups: non-diabetic peripheral neuropathy group(NDPN, n=36), subclinical diabetic peripheral neuropathy group(SDPN, n=37) and define diabetic peripheral neuropathy group(DDPN, n=25). RNFL thickness in different group was compared by analysis of variance and least-significant difference pairwise comparison. Results All sectoral RNFL thickness was thinning from NDPN group, SDPN group to DDPN group, specially inferior quadrant RNFL thickness, and there was significant difference among the three groups((132±19), (124±18) vs (116±17)μm, F=5.848, P=0.004). And significant difference was found in inferior quadrant RNFL thickness between NDPN and SDPN group(mean difference=8.67 μm, t=1.975, P=0.048), NDPN and DDPN group (mean differenc=16.59 μm, t=3.412, P=0.001). No significant difference was found in inferior quadrant RNFL thickness between SDPN and DDPN group(mean difference=7.93 μm, t=1.661, P=0.104). Covariance analysis showed that age and diabetes duration had no significant influence on RNFL thickness. Conclusions RNFL thickness maybe associated with diabetic peripheral neuropathy in patients with type 2 diabetes, especially in serious cases.