AIM: To explore the correlation between the degree of diabetic retinopathy and renal function in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus.

METHODS: Totally 110 cases of patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus from September 2016 to May 2018 were chosen in our study. According to the fundus we divided all the cases into NDR group(without diabetic retinopathy), BDR group(non proliferation diabetic retinopathy)and PDR group(diabetic retinopathy), meanwhile the normal subjects were selected as the control group at the same time. The renal function related indicators like urinary albumin/creatinine(UACR), glomeruar filtration rate(GFR), serum creatinine(Scr), blood urea nitrogen(BUN), Cystatin C(Cys C), α1-micro globulin(α1-MG), β2-micro globulin(β2-MG)were detected and compared among the four groups.

RESULTS: There were statistically significant differences of urinary albumin/creatinine, glomeruar filtration rate, serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, Cystatin C, α1-micro globulin and β2-micro globulin among the four groups(all P<0.05). The urinary albumin/creatinine, serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, Cystatin C, α1-micro globulin andβ2-micro globulin were significantly increased, and the glomeruar filtration rate was significantly decreased in diabetic groups(all P<0.05). The correlation analysis showed that the degree of retinopathy was positively correlated with UACR(r_s=0.498, P<0.05), and negatively correlated with GFR(r_s=-0.481, P<0.05). The incidence rate of a large number of urinary protein was 67.5%, and which was as high as 65.0% of renal insufficiency with GFR<60mL/min in the PDR group.

CONCLUSION:The diabetic retinopathy is closely related to renal function in patients with type 1 diabetes. The patients with renal dysfunction have a high risk of diabetic retinopathy. Renal function may predict the occurrence and development of the diabetic retinopathy.