Table 1 Patients’ baseline characteristics

Age, years

50.69 ± 11.24

49.16 ± 10.90

52.66 ± 11.42

0.011*

Male, n (%)

158 (58.30%)

95 (62.1%)

63 (53.4%)

0.150

Baseline BCVA (logMAR)

0.30 (0.10, 0.52)

0.40 (0.22, 0.70)

0.22 (0.10, 0.40)

 < 0.001**

Diabetes duration, years

12.24 ± 7.37

11.92 ± 7.26

12.64 ± 7.52

0.524

Type 2 diabetes, n (%)

261 (96.31%)

145 (94.8%)

116 (98.3%)

0.127

PDR, n (%)

169 (62.36%)

98 (64.1%)

71 (60.2%)

0.324

Diabetic nephropathy, n (%)

72 (26.57%)

65 (42.5%)

7 (5.9%)

 < 0.001**

Diabetic neuropathy, n (%)

22 (8.12%)

19 (12.4%)

3 (2.5%)

0.003**

Coronary heart disease, n (%)

24 (8.86%)

17 (11.1%)

9 (7.6%)

0.335

Prior Stroke, n (%)

14 (5.17%)

8 (5.2%)

6 (5.1%)

0.958

Hyperlipidemia, n (%)

75 (27.68%)

59 (38.6%)

16 (13.6%)

 < 0.001**

Hypertension, n (%)

0

71 (26.20%)

40 (26.1%)

31 (26.3%)

0.111

1

83 (30.63%)

41 (26.8%)

42 (35.6%)

2

48 (17.71%)

23 (15.0%)

25 (21.2%)

3

69 (25.46%)

49 (32.0%)

20 (16.9%)

BMI, kg/m²

25.52 ± 3.42

25.46 ± 3.67

25.60 ± 3.09

0.732

Homocysteine, umol/L

13.34 ± 7.91

14.14 ± 9.40

12.29 ± 5.27

0.061

Fasting blood glucose, mmol/L

6.96 ± 2.77

7.18 ± 2.81

6.67 ± 2.71

0.085

Urea, umol/L

6.66 ± 3.86

7.58 ± 4.78

5.47 ± 1.47

 < 0.001**

Creatinine, mmol/L

71.40 (56.70, 92.50)

76.20 (61.15, 110.50)

66.30 (54.83, 79.75)

 < 0.001**

Uric acid, umol/L

327.98 ± 90.23

340.59 ± 89.91

311.64 ± 88.37

0.009**

Total cholesterol, mmol/L

4.36 ± 1.18

4.49 ± 1.36

4.18 ± 0.89

0.090

Triglyceride, mmol/L

1.18 (0.88, 1.75)

1.27 (0.87, 1.98)

1.15 (0.89, 1.57)

0.139

High-density lipoprotein, mmol/L

1.13 ± 0.34

1.13 ± 0.35

1.12 ± 0.32

0.92

Low-density lipoprotein, mmol/L

2.76 ± 0.97

2.82 ± 1.10

2.67 ± 0.78

0.281

Serum superoxide dismutase, U/ML

146.23 ± 27.01

144.44 ± 30.87

148.56 ± 20.87

0.076

Glycosylated serum protein, umol/L

228.91 ± 75.04

228.53 ± 82.28

229.39 ± 64.80

0.986

Serum cystatin C, mg/L

1.04 (0.87, 1.27)

1.11 (0.89, 1.41)

0.97 (0.86, 1.11)

 < 0.001**

Hemoglobin, g/L

129.58 ± 18.91

127.04 ± 20.54

132.88 ± 16.07

0.044*

Hematocrit

0.38 ± 0.05

0.37 ± 0.06

0.39 ± 0.04

0.026*

Platelet, 10⁹/L

215.19 ± 61.32

213.56 ± 64.11

217.31 ± 57.69

0.613

Neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio

1.91 (1.47, 2.57)

1.97 (1.53, 2.76)

1.81 (1.39, 2.25)

0.017*