Together, our data suggest that the TXNIP/NLRP3 pathway is a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of DR, and the use of minocycline specifically for such therapy may be a new avenue of investigation in inflammatory disease.

This hospital-based, cross-sectional study investigated the effect of age of diabetes onset on the development of diabetic retinopathy (DR) among Chinese type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) patients. A total of 5,214 patients with type 2 DM who were referred to the Department of Ophthalmology at the Shanghai First People’s Hospital from 2009 to 2013 was eligible for inclusion. Diabetic retinopathy status was classified using the grading system of the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS). Logistic and hierarchical regression analyses were used to identify independent variables affecting the development of DR. Upon multiple logistic regression analysis, patient age at the time of diabetes onset was significantly associated with development of DR. Further, when the risk of retinopathy was stratified by patient age at the onset of diabetes, the risk was highest in patients in whom diabetes developed at an age of 31–45 years (odds ratio [OR] 1.815 [1.139–2.892]; p = 0.012). Furthermore, when patients were divided into four groups based on the duration of diabetes, DR development was maximal at a diabetes onset age of 31–45 years within each group. A diabetes onset age of 31–45 years is an independent risk factor for DR development in Chinese type 2 DM patients.

Scientific Reports 6: Article number: 38113; published online: 29 November 2016; updated: 26 May 2017 The original version of this Article incorrectly included Haibing Chen as a corresponding author. This error has now been corrected in the PDF and HTML versions of this Article.