AUTHOR=Zhang Guo-heng , Yuan Tian-hao , Yue Zhen-sheng , Wang Lin , Dou Guo-Rui 

TITLE=The presence of diabetic retinopathy closely associated with the progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: A meta-analysis of observational studies

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/molecular-biosciences/articles/10.3389/fmolb.2022.1019899

DOI=10.3389/fmolb.2022.1019899

ISSN=2296-889X

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Background and Objective:</bold> Although growing evidence indicates that non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is related to diabetic retinopathy (DR), research results significantly vary. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis to assess the association between the progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and the onset of DR.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane databases were searched until 7 November 2021. Combined odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the association.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> We identified 18 studies involving 12,757 patients. The pooled effect assessment showed that liver fibrosis was positively correlated with DR (OR = 1.69, 95%CI 1.30–2.20; <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.0001); non-alcoholic fatty liver disease was not associated with the risk of DR (OR = 1.15, 95%CI 0.75-1.76; <italic>p</italic> = 0.51); non-alcoholic fatty liver disease was positively correlated with DR in patients with type 1 diabetes (OR = 2.96, 95%CI 1.48–5.94; <italic>p</italic> = 0.002). In patients with type 2 diabetes, there was no association between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and DR (OR = 0.92, 95%CI 0.59–1.43; <italic>p</italic> = 0.70). Subgroup analysis showed no correlation in both Asian and Caucasian races.</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> There is a significant correlation between liver fibrosis and DR. This suggests that the ocular examination of DR could be helpful in predicting whether patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease would progress to liver fibrosis.</p>