Title
Corneal endothelial changes in type 2 diabetes mellitus with reference to stage of diabetic retinopathy
Authors
U Pramukh Prasad* & G Rashmi
Affiliation
Department of Ophthalmology, Sri Devaraj Urs Medical College, Tamaka, Kolar, India; *Corresponding author
U Pramukh Prasad - E-mail: pramukh1994@gmail.com
G Rashmi - E-mail: rashmig@sduaher.ac.in
Article Type
Research Article
Date
Received October 1, 2025; Revised November 15, 2025; Accepted November 15, 2025, Published November 15, 2025
Abstract
The impact of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) and diabetic retinopathy (DR) stage on corneal endothelial morphology and central corneal thickness (CCT) remains unclear. In this cross-sectional study conducted at R.L. Jalappa Hospital with 80 participants (40 diabetics and 40 controls), specular microscopy revealed that diabetic patients had significantly lower endothelial cell density, reduced hexagonality and increased coefficient of variation, indicating endothelial dysfunction. Although CCT was slightly thinner in diabetics, the difference was not statistically significant. Moreover, analysis across DR severity (No DR, NPDR and PDR) showed no significant correlation with endothelial parameters, despite a worsening trend with disease progression. Thus, we show that corneal endothelial changes in T2DM may occur independently of DR, underscoring the importance of routine corneal evaluation before intraocular procedures.
Keywords
Type 2 diabetes mellitus, diabetic retinopathy, corneal endothelium, endothelial cell density, hexagonality, coefficient of variation, central corneal thickness, specular microscopy
Citation
Prasad & Rashmi, Bioinformation 21(11): 4226-4230 (2025)
Edited by
P Kangueane
ISSN
0973-2063
Publisher
License
This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
