Dietary iron intake is nonlinearly associated with the risk of diabetic retinopathy in adults with type 2 diabetes.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To elucidate the association between dietary iron intake and diabetic retinopathy (DR) in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients.

Methods

Participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2005-2008 aged over 40 years with T2D were included. Dietary iron intake was estimated from standardised questionnaires. The presence of DR and vision-threatening DR (VTDR) was determined through retinal imaging. We used logistic regression to assess the relationship between iron intake and DR, and restricted cubic splines to reveal nonlinear links.

Results

The study enrolled 1172 T2D adults. We found significant nonlinear associations between dietary iron intake and DR among females (P = 0.023), but not in males (P = 0.490). Compared with the lowest q

SUBMITTER: Chen X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12007315 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature