Objective To investigate the values of serum triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index combined with retinol-binding protein (RBP) and β₂-microglobulin (β₂-MG) in prediction and screening of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in early stage.

Methods A total of 167 patients with type 2 diabetes in the authors' hospital were selected as research objects. According to the results of fundus examination, the 167 patients were divided into group without complications of diabetes (NDR group, n=60), group with non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR group, n=55) and group with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR group, n=52). Another 60 healthy people from the physical examination center of the authors'hospital during the same period were selected as control group (CON group). Serum levels of TyG index, RBP and β₂-MG were detected in the four groups; the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to analyze the values of the serum TyG index, RBP and β₂-MG alone and their combination in the prediction and screening of DR.

Results There were significant between-group differences in expression levels of TyG index, RBP and β₂-MG among the four groups (P < 0.05). In the three groups of patients with type 2 diabetes, the Spearman correlation analysis showed that the duration of diabetes, systolic blood pressure (SBP), fasting blood glucose (FBG), glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), triglyceride (TG), TyG index, RBP and β₂-MG were positively correlated with DR (P < 0.05), and the Logistic regression analysis showed that course of the disease, TyG index and RBP were the independent risk factors for the occurrence of DR. ROC curve analysis showed that the area under the curve (AUC) of the combination of TyG index, RBP and β₂-MG was 0.757, with the sensitivity of 63.6% and the specificity of 80.0%.

Conclusion Levels of TyG index, RBP and β₂-MG gradually increase with the aggravation of DR in patients with type 2 diabetes, and the efficiency of the combined detection of three indicators is the best in predicting early DR.