Circulating immune cell phenotyping is potentially relevant for diabetic retinopathy risk assessment

Background Inflammation is believed to play a central role in the development of diabetes mellitus and is a common feature of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, the association with diabetic retinopathy (DR) remains a topic of debate. Methods This study employed two-sample bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses to establish causal associations between immune cell characteristics and DR. Using publicly available GWAS genetic data, we investigated the causal relationship between 731 immune cell characteristics and the risk of DR. A total of four types of immune features, including relative cell (RC), absolute cell (AC), median fluorescence intensities (MFI), and morphological parameters (MP), were included. Sensitivity analysis was conducted to assess the robustness, heterogeneity, and potential horizontal pleiotropy of the results. Results Thirty-five immune cell phenotypes were correlated with the risk of developing DR among four immune traits (MFI, RC, AC, and MP), and DR resulted in altered expression of twenty-six immune cells. Conclusion We have demonstrated a strong correlation between immune cell traits and DR using a genetic approach. This finding offers valuable insights for early DR prevention and future clinical research and treatment.