Objective:

To understand the molecular changes during the transition from diabetes mellitus to diabetic retinopathy for timely identification and intervention.

Approach:

Key Findings:

• 57 differentially expressed proteins were identified, enriched in energy metabolism, detoxification, and cellular defense responses.
• 168 differential metabolites were revealed, primarily involved in taurine and hypotaurine metabolism, neuroactive ligand–receptor interaction, and tyrosine metabolism.
• Significant correlations between proteins and metabolites were found in the integrated proteomic–metabolomic analysis.
• Eight candidate proteins were validated, including three previously reported in DR and five newly identified candidates.
• ROC analysis showed strong discriminative performance for these proteins, with AUC values ranging from 0.853 to 0.945.

Interpretation:

The study reveals alterations in plasma proteins and metabolites during the progression from DM to DR.

Conclusion:

Integrated multi-omics analysis identified five novel candidate biomarkers.

Attribution Notice

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