Accumulating evidence suggests an association between obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) and diabetic retinopathy.1 The mechanism for this is unclear but a previous study suggested that hypertension and high body mass index are strongly implicated.2 Increases in serum vascular endothelial growth factor and other biomarkers3–5 have also recently been shown to be independently predictive for retinopathy. Their role in mediating OSA induced retinopathy, independent of conventional risk factors, is not known. We therefore performed an exploratory study to corroborate the link between OSA with diabetic retinopathy and the association of novel serum biomarkers on OSA induced diabetic retinopathy.

In all, 31 male obese patients with Type 2 diabetes (body mass index 28–40; HbA1c 7.0%–12.0%) attending a hospital diabetes obesity clinic on stable medication regimen with no significant comorbidities were recruited. All subjects underwent an …