Glycemic status and its association with retinal age gap: Insights from the UK biobank study

Abstract

Objective: To investigate associations between different glycemic status and biological age indexed by retinal age gap.

Methods: A total of 28,919 participants from the UK Biobank study with available glycemic status and qualified retinal imaging data were included in the present analysis. Glycemic status included type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) disease status and glycemic indicators of plasma glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and glucose. Retinal age gap was defined as the difference between the retina-predicted age and chronological age. Linear regression models estimated the association of different glycemic status with retinal age gap.

Results: Prediabetes and T2D was significantly associated with higher retinal age gaps compared to normoglycemia (regression coefficient [β] = 0.25, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.11-0.40, P = 0.001; β = 1.06, 95% CI: 0.83-1.29, P < 0.001; respectively). Multi-variable linear regressions further found an increase of HbA1c was independently associated with higher retinal age gaps among all subjects or subjects without T2D. Significant positive associations were noted across the increasing HbA1c and glucose groups with retinal age gaps compared to the normal level group. These findings remained significant after excluding diabetic retinopathy.

Conclusions: Dysglycemia was significantly associated with accelerated ageing indexed by retinal age gaps, highlighting the importance of maintaining glycemic status.

Keywords: Diabetes; Plasma glucose; Retinal age gap.