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Results from observational studies examining dyslipidemia as a risk factor for diabetic retinopathy (DR) have been inconsistent. We evaluated the causal relationship between plasma lipids and DR using a Mendelian randomization approach. We pooled genome-wide association studies summary statistics from 18 studies for two DR phenotypes: any DR (N = 2,969 case and 4,096 control subjects) and severe DR (N = 1,277 case and 3,980 control subjects). Previously identified lipid-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms served as instrumental variables. Meta-analysis to combine the Mendelian randomization estimates from different cohorts was conducted. There was no statistically significant change in odds ratios of having any DR or severe DR for any of the lipid fractions in the primary analysis that used single nucleotide polymorphisms that did not have a pleiotropic effect on another lipid fraction. Similarly, there was no significant association in the Caucasian and Chinese subgroup analyses. This study did not show evidence of a causal role of the four lipid fractions on DR. However, the study had limited power to detect odds ratios less than 1.23 per SD in genetically induced increase in plasma lipid levels, thus we cannot exclude that causal relationships with more modest effect sizes exist.

Background: Diabetic patients have an elevated risk of infection, but the optimal level of glycemic control with the lowest infection risk remains unclear, especially among the elderly. We conducted a cohort study to investigate the relation between fasting plasma glucose (FPG) level and risk of infection-related morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data of participants from a community-based health screening program in Taiwan during 2005-2008 (n=118,645) were analyzed. Incidence of hospitalization for infection and infection-related death was ascertained from the National Health Insurance Database and National Death Registry. Cox proportional hazards regression modelling was used to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) between FPG and risk of infection, adjusting for major risk factors of infection. Separate analyses were also performed to evaluate the risk of hospitalization among the elderly (> 65 years). Results: During a median follow-up of 8.13 years, 14,372 cases of hospitalization for infection and 422 infection-related deaths occurred. The incidence rate of hospitalization for any infection was 36.33 and 14.26 per 1,000 person-years among diabetics and nondiabetics in the total study population, but increased to 70.02 and 45.21 per 1,000 person-years in the elderly. In the Cox regression analysis, the adjusted HR comparing diabetics to nondiabetics was 1.59 (95% CI: 1.52-1.67) for any hospitalization for infection and 1.71 (95% CI: 1.36-2.16) for infection-related mortality. The hazard for infection morbidity and mortality was higher at both extremes (<80 and >200 mg/dl) of FPG. The above relations were consistently observed in older people and across different sites of infection. Conclusion: The U-shape association between glycemic control and infection risk suggested that very tight glucose control may not provide additional benefits in risk reduction. In older adults, the absolute risk of infection associated with diabetes was high. Disclosure: C. Chang: None. J. Wang: None. L. Wu: None. L. Chuang: None. H. Lin: None. Funding: Taiwan Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST105-2628-B-002-025-MY3) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]