Lipoprotein (a) as a predictor of diabetic retinopathy in patients with type 2 diabetes: A systematic review

Mohammad Sadra Gholami Chahkand; Fatemeh Esmaeilpour Moallem; Abolfazl Qezelgachi; Kiana Seifouri; Armin Pesaran Afsharian; Farzad Sheikhzadeh; Atefe Poursalehi; Fateme Sadat Fani Sadrabadi; Mehrnush Saghab Torbati; Mohaddese Ramezanzade; Goharsharieh Alishiri; Arina Ansari; Emad Zare Dehabadi; Saeed Karimi Matloub; Zahra Sheikh; Niloofar Deravi; Saba Mehrtabar; Fatemeh Chichagi; Neda Faal Hamedanchi; Mohammadreza Arzaghi; Mahla Asadi; Parisa Alsadat Dadkhah; Akram Ansari

doi:10.1177/14791641231197114

Lipoprotein (a) as a predictor of diabetic retinopathy in patients with type 2 diabetes: A systematic review

Diab Vasc Dis Res. 2023 Nov-Dec;20(6):14791641231197114. doi: 10.1177/14791641231197114.

Authors

Mohammad Sadra Gholami Chahkand¹, Fatemeh Esmaeilpour Moallem², Abolfazl Qezelgachi³, Kiana Seifouri⁴, Armin Pesaran Afsharian⁵, Farzad Sheikhzadeh⁶, Atefe Poursalehi⁷, Fateme Sadat Fani Sadrabadi⁸, Mehrnush Saghab Torbati⁹, Mohaddese Ramezanzade¹⁰, Goharsharieh Alishiri¹¹, Arina Ansari¹², Emad Zare Dehabadi⁴, Saeed Karimi Matloub¹³, Zahra Sheikh¹⁴, Niloofar Deravi⁴, Saba Mehrtabar¹⁵, Fatemeh Chichagi¹⁶, Neda Faal Hamedanchi¹⁷, Mohammadreza Arzaghi¹⁸, Mahla Asadi¹⁹, Parisa Alsadat Dadkhah³, Akram Ansari²⁰

Affiliations

¹ Student Research Committee, School of Medicine, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran.
² Student Research Committee, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran.
³ Student Research Committee, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran.
⁴ Student Research Committee, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
⁵ Student Research Committee, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran.
⁶ Student Research Committee, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
⁷ Student Research Committee, School of Paramedical, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
⁸ Student Research Committee, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
⁹ Islamic Azad University of Zahedan, Zahedan, Iran.
¹⁰ School of Medicine, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran.
¹¹ Students Research Committee, School of Medicine, Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Ardabil, Iran.
¹² Student Research Committee, School of Medicine, North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, Bojnurd, Iran.
¹³ Students Research Committee, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran.
¹⁴ Student Research Committee, School of Medicine, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran.
¹⁵ Student Research Committee, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
¹⁶ Students' Scientific Research Center (SSRC), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
¹⁷ Faculty of Medicine, Islamic Azad University, Tehran Medical Sciences Branch, Tehran, Iran.
¹⁸ Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
¹⁹ Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
²⁰ Medical College, Shantou University, Shantou, China.

Abstract

Background: Lipoprotein a (LP(a)), an LDL-like lipoprotein, known as a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, has a controversial association with diabetic retinopathy in patients with type 2 diabetes-the current systematic review aimed to critically assess the association between LP(a) and diabetic retinopathy.

Methods: A systematic review of relevant studies was conducted after a thorough search in PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar electronic databases. We used English observational, case-control, and prospective cohort studies published up to August 2022, including type 2 diabetic patients as the population, diabetic retinopathy as the outcome, and LP(a) as the intervention.

Result: 17 relevant studies, including 4688 patients with diabetes, were included in this systematic review. While in 13 studies, Lipoprotein(a) was recognized as a risk factor for diabetic retinopathy, only three studies reported no evidence of a relationship between the two. Also, another study showed a mixed outcome of the relationship between LP(a) and diabetic retinopathy.

Conclusion: High serum lipoprotein(a) in patients with type 2 diabetes is considered a risk factor for diabetic retinopathy. However, further large-scaled cohort studies are still required to validate this finding.

Keywords: Lipoprotein (a); diabetic retinopathy; systematic review; type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Publication types

Systematic Review
Review

MeSH terms

Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2* / complications
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2* / diagnosis
Diabetic Retinopathy* / diagnosis
Diabetic Retinopathy* / epidemiology
Diabetic Retinopathy* / etiology
Humans
Lipoprotein(a)
Prospective Studies
Risk Factors

Substances

Lipoprotein(a)
LPA protein, human