Relationship between apolipoprotein M levels and diabetic retinopathy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Apolipoprotein M (apoM) is a biologically important protein that facilitates the mobilization and transport of cholesterol and other bioactive molecules in circulation. This study aims to explore the association between plasma apolipoprotein M (apoM) levels and diabetic retinopathy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This cross-sectional study included 339 patients with T2DM. Patients with diabetic retinopathy exhibited greater median plasma apoM levels than those without diabetic retinopathy (26.05 [21.09-30.37] mg/L vs. 21.47 [18.00-26.38] mg/L; p < 0.001). In logistic regression models, plasma apoM levels were significantly associated with diabetic retinopathy (odds ratio [OR] per standard deviation increase in log10-transformed levels, 1.49; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.05-2.119; p = 0.027) after adjusting for the confounders including age, hypertension, diabetes duration, and HbA1c. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.657 (95% CI: 0.594-0.721), with internal bootstrap validation yielding a stable optimism-corrected area under the curve of 0.658. Our exploratory findings suggest a significant positive association between plasma apoM levels and diabetic retinopathy in patients with T2DM.