Dietary glutamic acid and aspartic acid as biomarkers for predicting diabetic retinopathy

So Young Park,Do-Yeon Kim,Jieun Kim,Jeong-Taek Woo,Sang Youl Rhee,Hyunjung Lim,Jung Il Son,Suk Chon

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-83165-5

Abstract

The screening rate of diabetic retinopathy (DR) is low despite the importance of early diagnosis. We investigated the predictive value of dietary glutamic acid and aspartic acid for diagnosis of DR using the Korea National Diabetes Program cohort study. The 2067 patients with type 2 diabetes without DR were included. The baseline intakes of energy, glutamic acid and aspartic acid were assessed using a 3-day food records. The risk of DR incidence based on intake of glutamic acid and aspartic acid was analyzed. The DR group was older, and had higher HbA1c, longer DM duration, lower education level and income than non-DR group (all p < 0.05). The intake of total energy, glutamic acid and aspartic acid were lower in DR group than non-DR group (p = 0.010, p = 0.025 and p = 0.042, respectively). There was no difference in the risk of developing DR according to the intake of glutamic acid and ascorbic acid. But, aspartic acid intake had a negative correlation with PDR. Hence, the intake of glutamic acid and aspartic acid did not affect in DR incidence. However, lower aspartic acid intake affected the PDR incidence.

Highlights

The screening rate of diabetic retinopathy (DR) is low despite the importance of early diagnosis
Of the 2429 subjects recruited to the study, 2067 completed the study, including 731 (35.4%) diagnosed with DR; 672 (32.5%) with non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR), and 59 (2.9%) with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) (Fig. 1)
All values were within the normal ranges, the alanine aminotransferase (ALT) was lower (p = 0.007), and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) were higher (p = 0.046) in the DR group than those in the non-DR group

Summary

Introduction

The screening rate of diabetic retinopathy (DR) is low despite the importance of early diagnosis. We investigated the predictive value of dietary glutamic acid and aspartic acid for diagnosis of DR using the Korea National Diabetes Program cohort study. The risk of DR incidence based on intake of glutamic acid and aspartic acid was analyzed. Our recent metabolomics study in a well-organized cohort of geriatric diabetic patients showed that some important metabolites such as plasma glutamic acid, and aspartic acid, etc. This study aimed to investigate the causal relationship between intakes of glutamic and aspartic acids and DR based on an analysis of large-scale, multicenter, prospective cohort data. We classified non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) according to DR severity and analyzed the relationship between DR severity and dietary glutamic acid and aspartic acid. Graduate School of East‐West Medical Science, Kyung Hee University, 1732 Deogyeong‐daero, Giheung‐gu, Yongin 17104, Republic of Korea. 6These authors contributed : So Young Park and Jieun

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