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. 2024 Feb 25;14(5):492.
doi: 10.3390/diagnostics14050492.

Retinal Function in Long-Term Type 1 Diabetes without Retinopathy: Insights from Pattern Electroretinogram and Pattern Visual Evoked Potentials Assessments

Marta Arias-Alvarez  1   2 , Maria Sopeña-Pinilla  2   3 , Guisela Fernandez-Espinosa  2 , Elvira Orduna-Hospital  2   4 , Ines Vicente-Garza  1 , Anna Bonet-Rodriguez  1 , Javier Acha-Perez  2   5 , Diego Rodriguez-Mena  1 , Isabel Pinilla  2   6   7
Affiliations

Retinal Function in Long-Term Type 1 Diabetes without Retinopathy: Insights from Pattern Electroretinogram and Pattern Visual Evoked Potentials Assessments

Marta Arias-Alvarez et al. Diagnostics (Basel). .

Abstract

Background: To evaluate changes in pattern electroretinogram (pERG) and pattern visual evoked potentials (pVEP) in patients with long-lasting type 1 diabetes without diabetic retinopathy (DR).

Methods: Prospective study involving 92 eyes divided into two groups. The diabetic group included 46 eyes of 23 patients with type 1 diabetes (T1DM); the control group included 23 age-matched healthy subjects. pERG and pVEP were assessed using the RETI-port/scan21 recording software (version 1021.3.0.0).

Results: Mean age was 48 ± 9.77 years for the diabetic group and 51.7 ± 4.75 years for the control group. The mean duration of diabetes was 28.88 ± 8.04 years. The mean HbA1c value was 7.29 ± 0.89%. There were no differences in the age or sex distribution. Regarding the pERG, T1DM patients exhibited a significant decrease in the amplitude of the P50 and N95 waves compared to the control group (p = 0.018 and p = 0.035, respectively), with no differences in the peak time of each component. pVEP showed no significant changes in either peak time or amplitude of the different components.

Conclusions: Long-term T1DM patients without DR showed changes in the amplitude of pERG waves with preserved peak times. We did not observe modifications in pVEP. pERG may serve as a subclinical marker of ganglion cell damage in long-term T1DM patients.

Keywords: diabetic retinopathy; pattern electroretinogram; pattern visual evoked potentials; type 1 diabetes.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Example of a pERG and a pVEP of a healthy subject from the control group. Both eyes are presented. A series of negative and positive deflections can be appreciated in both registers. The pERG waves are shown on the top register as N35, P50 and N95. The pVEP waves (bottom register) appear as N75, P100 and N145.
Figure 2
Figure 2
pERG peak time (ms) and amplitude (µV) values obtained with the RETI-port/scan21 recording system in the T1DM (presented in orange) and control groups (presented in blue). Values are expressed as the means ± standard deviation. Abbreviations: pERG, pattern electroretinogram; T1DM, type 1 diabetes mellitus. Significant differences are shown as *.
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