ECE2022 Poster Presentations Diabetes, Obesity, Metabolism and Nutrition (202 abstracts)
National Institute of Nutrition, Outpatient Department and Functional Explorations, Tunis, Tunisia
Introduction: Data from literature suggest that combination of autoimmune diseases may have a major physical and psychological impact on type 1 diabetic patients. The aim of our study was to assess the impact of autoimmune thyroiditis on diabetic retinopathy.
Methods: We conducted a descriptive observational retrospective study of type 1 diabetic patients, followed at the National Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology of Tunis, between December 2019 and April 2021. All included patients had a diabetes duration of more than 20 years. Clinical and biological data were collected from medical observation records. The diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy was based on fundus examination, associated with retinal angiography in case of abnormality.
Results: The study included 155 patients. The mean age of patients was 39.7±9.8 years. The sex ratio M/F was 0.49. Mean duration of diabetes was 27.33±6.38 years with extremes ranging from 20 to 48 years. Autoimmune diseases associated with type 1 diabetes were dominated by autoimmune thyroiditis (22.4%) followed by celiac disease (6.8%) and adrenal insufficiency (4.3%). Diabetic retinopathy was present in 74.3% of the participants with a mean duration of 22±5.9 years. The univariate study showed that autoimmune thyroiditis was present in 16.3% of patients with diabetic retinopathy compared with 35.1% of those with a normal fundus (P=0.016).
Conclsion: Our study highlights the possible protective effect of autoimmune thyroiditis on diabetic retinopathy. Further research are needed to confirm this effect and determine the factors involved in this association.