AIM: To investigate the expression and diagnostic value of long non-coding RNA(LncRNA)hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha antisense RNA 1(HIF1A-AS1)in serum of patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy(PDR).

METHODS: A total of 160 patients with diabetic retinopathy(DR)admitted to our hospital from July 2019 to July 2021 were selected as the research objects. According to the degree of disease, they were divided into PDR group(80 cases)and nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy(NPDR)group(80 cases). At the same time, 100 healthy cases in our hospital were selected as the control group. Detect and compare serum triglyceride(TG), total cholesterol(TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C), fasting blood glucose(FBG)and the level of glycosylated hemoglobin A1c(HbA1c); The expression level of LncRNA HIF1A-AS1 in serum was detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR(qRT-PCR)method; Logistic regression was used to analyze the risk factors that affected the occurrence of PDR; Receiver operating characteristic curve(ROC)was used to analyze the clinical value of LncRNA HIF1A-AS1 level in the diagnosis of PDR.

RESULTS: The expression level of LncRNA HIF1A-AS1 in the serum of the patients in the PDR group was significantly higher than that in the NPDR group and the control group, and the NPDR group was higher than the control group(P<0.05); The course of disease, HbA1c, TC, TG, LDL-C, FBG levels in the PDR group and the NPDR group were significantly higher than those of the control group, the HDL-C level in the PDR group was significantly lower than that in the control group(P<0.05); The level of LncRNA HIF1A-AS1 was positively correlated with the course of disease, HbA1c, TC, TG, LDL-C and FBG(P<0.05), and negatively correlated with HDL-C(P<0.05); Logistic regression analysis showed that the LncRNA HIF1A-AS1, course of disease, FBG, HbA1c, TC, TG, LDL-C were all risk factors for PDR(P<0.05); ROC results showed that the area under the curve(AUC)of the LncRNA HIF1A-AS1 level predicting PDR was 0.766(95%CI: 0.692～0.829), the corresponding sensitivity was 66.25% and the specificity was 78.75%.

CONCLUSION: The level of LncRNA HIF1A-AS1 in the serum of PDR patients is up-regulated, it is a risk factor for the occurrence of PDR and it can be used as a potential serological indicator for predicting the occurrence of PDR.