Abstract:Objective To investigate the related factors on the diameter variation of retinal arterioles and venula in patients with type 2 diabetic mellitus (T2DM). Methods In total, 105 patients with T2DM were selected in our hospital from June 2015 to December 2015. Fundus photographs were taken in right eyes, and the diameters of retinal arterioles and venula were measured within 1.0-1.5 PD. Multiple linear regression was performed to analyze the relationships between the diameters of retinal arterioles and venula and gender, age,hypertension, fasting blood glucose (FBG), glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), total triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), duration of DM and diabetic retinopathy (DR) stage. Results The mean diameters of retinal arterioles and venula in all patients were (52.07 ±7.89) μm and (85.92 ±8.87) μm, and 47 cases (44.8%) had DR. The retinal arterioles diameters of patients with hypertension, duration of T2DM ≥10 years significantly decreased (P < 0.05). The retinal venula diameters of patients with age <65 years, FBG ≥10.5 mmol/L, HbA1c ≥7%, duration of DM ≥10 years significantly increased (P < 0.05). With the progression of T2DM stage, the retinal arterioles diameters gradually decreased while the venula diameters gradually increased (P <0.05).Multiple linear regression results showed that the retinal arterioles diameter had a linear relationship with age(b = -0.236,P < 0.05), duration of T2DM (b = -2.230, P< 0.05), DR stage (b = -2.017,P < 0.05), and the retinal venula diameter had a linear relationship with FBG (b = 1.036,P < 0.05), DR stage (b = 2.256,P <0.05). Conclusions T2DM patients with DR are apt to perform retinal arterioles narrowing and venula dilation.With the aggravation of DR, retinal venula diameters increase while retinal arterioles diameters decrease.