Rastogi A, Khamesra A. Prevalence of diabetic retinopathy across different diabetes phenotypes. World J Diabetes 2026; 17(6): 119328 [DOI: 10.4239/wjd.119328]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Ashu Rastogi, DM, MD, FRCP, Additional Professor, Department of Endocrinology, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research Chandigarh, PGIMER, Sector-12, Chandigarh 160012, India. ashuendo@gmail.com
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Endocrinology & Metabolism
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Rastogi A, Khamesra A. Prevalence of diabetic retinopathy across different diabetes phenotypes. World J Diabetes 2026; 17(6): 119328 [DOI: 10.4239/wjd.119328]
World J Diabetes. Jun 15, 2026; 17(6): 119328 Published online Jun 15, 2026. doi: 10.4239/wjd.119328
Prevalence of diabetic retinopathy across different diabetes phenotypes
Ashu Rastogi, Anshu Khamesra
Ashu Rastogi, Department of Endocrinology, Post Graduate Instite of Medical Education and Research Chandigarh, Chandigarh 160012, India
Anshu Khamesra, Department of Medicine, Santokh Hospitals, Chandigarh 160015, India
Author contributions: Rastogi A reviewed the literature, wrote the initial draft, and edited the final manuscript; Khamesra A wrote the initial draft of the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
AI contribution statement: We used Grammarly and AI 3 assisted in discussing the latest progress of the manuscript. Artificial intelligence tools have not been used as writing aids for language polishing, translation, data analysis, or manuscript writing. Artificial intelligence tools were not involved in the design of the research or the interpretation of the results. There are no images in the manuscript generated by artificial intelligence.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Corresponding author: Ashu Rastogi, DM, MD, FRCP, Additional Professor, Department of Endocrinology, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research Chandigarh, PGIMER, Sector-12, Chandigarh 160012, India. ashuendo@gmail.com
Received: February 3, 2026 Revised: March 2, 2026 Accepted: April 22, 2026 Published online: June 15, 2026 Processing time: 138 Days and 6.3 Hours
Abstract
Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a glucose-defining complication with varying prevalence reported depending upon the duration of diabetes, degree of glycemic control, and associated other microvascular complications, particularly nephropathy, defined by albuminuria and reduced glomerular filtration rate. The prevalence of DR also varies with the diabetes phenotype, with ketosis-prone diabetes having DR as prevalent as type 2 diabetes, but less than type 1 diabetes, matched for age and gender. An increasing prevalence in ketosis-prone diabetes plausibly could be due to ketonemia increasing permeability of blood-retinal layer contributing to inflammation. The guidelines for initial screening and evaluation of DR suggest similar strategies across diabetes phenotypes. Recent advances in DR diagnosis with advanced imaging technologies with artificial intelligence shall enable earlier detection with improved accuracy across varied diabetes phenotypes to reduce preventable blindness due to DR.
Core Tip: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is glucose defining complication with varying prevalence reported depending upon the duration of diabetes, degree of glycemic control, associated other microvascular complications particularly nephropathy defined by albuminuria and reduced glomerular filtration rate. Interestingly, the prevalence of DR also varies with the diabetes phenotype with ketosis prone diabetes having DR as prevalent as type 2 diabetes but less than type 1 diabetes matched for age and gender.
