Diabetic retinopathy is a vision complication of diabetes that can often progress to blindness. Previous studies have revealed that male diabetic patients have had higher rates of diabetic retinopathy as well as more severe disease than female diabetic patients. In order to better understand why this difference is occurring, our research group has been trying to identify differences in various biomarkers between the two groups including proteins in the blood and proteins in the aqueous humor of the eye. With this project, we hope to look at differences in small molecules known as metabolites in the blood of male and female diabetic patients at various diabetic retinopathy severity stages. We hope to perform statistical analysis using the metabolomic and clinical data provided by the UK biobank to understand sex-based differences in metabolites of patients with diabetic retinopathy. This project is expected to take around 6-12 months. Through this project, we hope to identify detectable biomarkers as well as better understand the inflammatory processes behind diabetic retinopathy to improve treatment strategies for patients with diabetic retinopathy.
