Correlation between diabetic retinopathy and bone mineral density and bone metabolism indexes：a case-control study

Objective The objective of this research is to examine the correlation between diabetic retinopathy and bone mineral density(BMD), as well as bone metabolism indicators, through clinical research and bioinformatics analysis. Methods ① 64 patients diagnosed with both diabetes mellitus and retinopathy constituted the observation group, whereas 91 patients with diabetes mellitus alone formed the control group. Their BMD and bone metabolism indices were then compared.② Disease genes were searched in the relevant databases for diabetic retinopathy and osteoporosis respectively.Common target genes were obtained after de-replicating the intersections. The common target genes were constructed through theSTRING database to construct PPI network maps and screen common core targets, and finally, GO and KEGG enrichment analyses were performed. Results The observation group exhibited lower levels of BMD, BMC, T-Score, and Z-Score than the control group(P < 0.05).and the common core targets of diabetic retinopathy and osteoporosis were INS, IL6, AKT1, TNF, etc. Their common core targets mainly act on the AGE-RAGE, lipid and atherosclerosis, HIF-1 and other specific pathways in diabetic complications to play a regulatory role in the regulation of bone metabolism and thus trigger osteoporosis. Conclusion The decrease in BMD and diabetic osteoporosis is probably another manifestation of diabetic microangiopathy, and the common core targets and signalling pathways involved in the two diseases can regulate both diseases and have an impact on them, suggesting that there is a close correlation between diabetic retinopathy and BMDin terms of pathology and molecular mechanisms.