Effect of Lipids on Diabetic Retinopathy in a Large Cohort of Diabetic Patients After 10 Years of Follow-Up

(1) Background: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) remains the leading cause of low vision and blindness in young adults of working age. Although the most important risk factors-such as the duration of diabetes mellitus (DM) and glycemic control measured by HbA1c-are known, the effects of lipids are not as clear. The aim of the present study is to analyze the effects of lipids on the development of DR. (2) Methods: This is a retrospective study of a population of 175,645 DM2 patients, during the period 2010 to 2020, in which the effects of different lipid factors are studied. (3) Results: The variables that most influenced the development of DR in our study, based on significance and cumulative hazard (CH), were arterial hypertension (CH 1.217, < 0.001), HbA1c levels (CH 1.162, = 0.001), microalbuminuria (CH 1.012, < 0.001), LDL-C cholesterol (CH 1.007, = 0.012), TC/HDL-C index (CH 1.092, < 0.001), No-HDL-C/HDL-C index (CH 1.065, = 0.002), the use of statins (CH 1.001, = 0.005), and body mass index (CH 1.007, < 0.001). (4) Conclusions: LDL-cholesterol, TC/HDL-C, and No-HDL-C/HDL-C indices are related to the development of DR, and there is a protective effect of HDL-cholesterol and the use of fibrates.