Diabetic retinopathy in patients with latent autoimmune diabetes in adults: a mini-review of the literature

Diabetic retinopathy in patients with latent autoimmune diabetes in adults: a mini-review of the literature. Download PDF Abstract This mini-review gathers the literature regarding the development of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in patients with latent autoimmune diabetes of adults (LADA). PubMed and Scopus databases were searched up to 31st January 2025 for articles examining retinal changes in patients with LADA.

The search terms were applied using the following search query: (“Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults” OR “LADA”) AND (“Diabetic Retinopathy” OR “DR” OR “Retina” OR “Retinopathy”). Reference lists of the retrieved articles were also reviewed. The scientific evidence for complications of LADA, and especially for DR, is limited, since there are very few studies with small sample size.

It seems that high serum levels of glutamic acid decarboxylase antibody (GADA), poor glycemic control, and long duration of the disease may lead to DR. It has been found that DR is two times more frequent in patients with LADA compared to those with type 2 DM. The prevalence of DR in LADA patients ranged from about 10–26%, with the majority being mild non-proliferative DR.

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