AIM:To analyze the correlation between serum nesfatin-1, apelin and heme oxygenase-1(HO-1)levels and the severity of diabetic retinopathy(DR).

METHODS:Totally 100 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM)who were admitted to the hospital from September 2020 to September 2022 were selected. They were divided into non-DR(NDR)group(35 cases), nonproliferative DR(NPDR)group(33 cases)and proliferative DR(PDR)group(32 cases)according to the condition of fundus lesions. Another 30 healthy individuals who received health check-ups in the hospital during the same period were selected as the control group. Serum nesfatin-1, apelin and HO-1 levels in each group were detected, and panretinal ischemia index(ISI)was evaluated.

RESULTS:Serum nesfatin-1 and HO-1 levels in the T2DM patients were lower, and apelin level was higher as compared with the control group. The levels of nesfatin-1 and HO-1 in the PDR group were the lowest, while the apelin level was the highest. Panretinal ISI in the PDR group was higher than that in the NPDR group(4.56±0.57 vs. 2.05±0.29, P<0.05). Correlation analysis found that serum nesfatin-1 and HO-1 levels were negatively correlated with panretinal ISI in patients with DR, while apelin level was positively correlated with panretinal ISI. The receiver operator characteristic(ROC)curve analysis found that the areas under the curves of serum nesfatin-1, apelin and HO-1 for predicting PDR were 0.842, 0.833 and 0.807 respectively.

CONCLUSION:Serum nesfatin-1, apelin and HO-1 levels are closely related to the severity of DR. Dynamic monitoring of serum nesfatin-1, apelin and HO-1 levels is important for the early detection of PDR.