June 2021
Volume 62, Issue 8
Open Access
ARVO Annual Meeting Abstract  |   June 2021
Diabetic retinopathy as a potential marker of prevalent and incident Parkinson’s disease: results from a nationwide register-based cohort study
Author Affiliations & Notes
  • Maria Emma Carius Larsen
    Department of Ophthalmology, Odense Universitetshospital, Odense, Denmark
    Syddansk Universitet, Odense, Denmark
  • Anne Suhr Thykjær
    Department of Ophthalmology, Odense Universitetshospital, Odense, Denmark
    Department of Clinical Research, Syddansk Universitet, Odense, Denmark
  • Frederik Pedersen
    Department of Ophthalmology, Odense Universitetshospital, Odense, Denmark
    Department of Clinical Research, Syddansk Universitet, Odense, Denmark
  • Morten Blaabjerg
    Department of Neurology, Odense Universitetshospital, Odense, Denmark
    Department of Clinical Research, Syddansk Universitet, Odense, Denmark
  • Katrine Rubin
    Department of Clinical Research, Syddansk Universitet, Odense, Denmark
    OPEN, Odense Universitetshospital, Odense, Denmark
  • Lonny Stokholm
    Department of Clinical Research, Syddansk Universitet, Odense, Denmark
    OPEN, Odense Universitetshospital, Odense, Denmark
  • Jakob Grauslund
    Department of Ophthalmology, Odense Universitetshospital, Odense, Denmark
    Department of Clinical Research, Syddansk Universitet, Odense, Denmark
  • Footnotes
    Commercial Relationships   Maria Larsen, None; Anne Thykjær, None; Frederik Pedersen, None; Morten Blaabjerg, None; Katrine Rubin, None; Lonny Stokholm, None; Jakob Grauslund, None
  • Footnotes
    Support  Velux Foundation grant 00028744
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science June 2021, Vol.62, 1125. doi:
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      Maria Emma Carius Larsen, Anne Suhr Thykjær, Frederik Pedersen, Morten Blaabjerg, Katrine Rubin, Lonny Stokholm, Jakob Grauslund; Diabetic retinopathy as a potential marker of prevalent and incident Parkinson’s disease: results from a nationwide register-based cohort study. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2021;62(8):1125.

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      © ARVO (1962-2015); The Authors (2016-present)

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Abstract

Purpose : Evidence suggests that neurodegeneration is an early event in the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy (DR) and, hence, an association between DR and Parkinson’s disease (PD) has been proposed. In this nationwide register-based cohort study, we investigated the prevalence and incidence of PD among patients screened for DR in a Danish population-based cohort.

Methods : Cases (n=173.568) above 50 years of age with diabetes included in the Danish Registry of Diabetic Retinopathy (DiaBase) between 2013 and 2018 were matched 1:5 by gender and birth year with a control population without diabetes (n=843.599). The prevalence of PD among cases and controls was compared at index date with an odds ratio (OR). To assess the association between DR and PD, we used a cox proportional hazard model adjusted for age, gender, systemic comorbidity, marital status and medication including insulin, glucose lowering drugs, antihypertensive drugs and cholesterol lowering drugs, to calculate the hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). The study population was followed until earliest registration of PD-event, death, migration or end of follow-up (December 31, 2018), whichever occurred first.

Results : At index date, the prevalence of PD was 0.28% and 0.44% among cases and controls, respectively. Cases with no or any level of DR (level 0-4) were thus less likely to have PD compared to controls (adjusted OR 0.79, 95% CI 0.72-0.88). The multivariate adjusted HR for the association between DR (level 0-4) and PD were 0.88 (0.78-1.00). When looking solely at DR level 0 and 1-4, the adjusted HR were 0.91 (0.79-1.03) and 0.77 (0.56-1.05), respectively.

Conclusions : In a national cohort of more than one million persons, patients with diabetes were 21% less likely to have PD at index compared to a control population without diabetes, and, likewise, there was a general trend towards lower incident PD among cases. This is surprisingly in disagreement with recent published data and accordingly, this nationwide cohort study does not support the suggestion of DR as an independent risk factor for PD.

This is a 2021 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.

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