Associations of High Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol and Framingham Cardiovascular Risk with Diabetic Retinopathy in African Type 2 Diabetics

Objectives: To assess the associations of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and Framingham cardiovascular (CVD) with diabetic retinopathy (DR). Methods: A cross-sectional study of random sample of 200 T2DM Central Africans. Sociobiographical, laboratory and eye examination main outcome measures were investigated using Tertiles of HDL-C (stratification = lowest < 40 mg/dL, normal or interdemiate = 40 74.9 mg/dL, highest ≥ 75 mg/dL) and Framingham risk stratification (<10% and ≥10%) by logistic regression models. Results: Out of 200 T2DM patients, 120 (35.5%) had DR and out of DR patients, 116 (n = 96.7%) had VD. There was a significant Ushaped relationship between DR rates and HDL-C stratification. In the normal HDL-C group, elevated 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine and 10-year Framingham risk > 10% were the significant independent determinants for DR. In the highest HDL-C group, smoking status and 10-year Framingham risk ≥ 10% were the significantly independent determinants for DR. In 10-year Framingham risk ≥ 10% group, smoking status, insulin resistance and increasing levels of HDL-C were the significantly independent determinants for DR. Conclusion: DR and VD remain a public health problem in T2DM Central Africans. Some Central Africans with DR and VD appear to have higher HDL-C than T2DM Central Africans without DR and VD. HDL-C in T2DM patients with DR, may be tightly Corresponding author. B. Longo-Mbenza et al. 180 controlled by genetic factors (black Bantu ethnicity) than the other lipoproteins as reported among Indians, African-Americans, and Japanese individuals. The most preventable environmental risk factors for DR were smoking status, global cardiovascular disease risk, insulin resistance and oxidative stress.