AIM:To investigate the relationship between Creactive protein(CRP)and diabetic retinopathy(DR)in a cohort of Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM).·METHODS:Community-based observational cohort study.There were 1131 participants recruited from November 2009 to September 2011 in Desheng community in urban Beijing.Patients diagnosed T2DM were recruited and underwent a standardized evaluation consisting of a questionnaire,ocular and anthropometric examinations and laboratory investigation.The presence and severity of DR were assessed by seven fields 30°color fundus photographs.Subjects were then classified into groups with no DR,any DR,or vision-threatening DR.CRP was analyzed from serum of study subjects.·RESULTS:A total of 1007 patients with T2DM were included for analysis,including 408(40.5%)men and 599(59.5%)women.The median CRP level was 1.5 mg/L for women and 1.1 mg/L for men(P=0.004,OR 0.37,95%CI0.18-0.74).After adjusting for possible covariates,higher levels of CRP were associated with lower prevalence of any DR(P=0.02,OR 0.55,95%CI 0.35-0.89),but not associated with vision-threatening DR(P=0.62,OR 0.78,95%CI 0.28-2.14).After stratification by sex,the inverseassociation between CRP and DR was found to be statistically significant in men(P=0.006,OR 0.35,95%CI0.16-0.73),but not in women(P=0.58,OR 0.88,95%CI0.29-1.16).·CONCLUSION:The data drawn from a Chinese population with T2DM suggest that increasing CRP levels may be inversely associated with development of DR. AIM: To investigate the relationship between Creactive protein (CRP) and diabetic retinopathy (DR) in a cohort of Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). METHODS: Community-based observational cohort study. There were 1131 participants recruited from November 2009 to September 2011 in Desheng community in urban Beijing. Patient diagnosed T2DM were recruited and underwent a standardized evaluation consisting of a questionnaire, ocular and anthropometric examinations and laboratory investigation. Presence and severity of DR were assessed by seven fields 30 ° color fundus photographs . Subjects were then classified into groups with no DR, any DR, or vision-threatening DR. CRP was analyzed from serum of study subjects. RESULTS: A total of 1007 patients with T2DM were included for analysis, including 408 (40.5%) men and 599 (59.5%) women.The median CRP level was 1.5 mg / L for women and 1.1 mg / L for men (P = 0.004, OR 0.37, 95% CI 0.18-0.74) .After adjusting for possible covariates, higher levels of CR P were associated with lower prevalence of any DR (P = 0.02, OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.35-0.89) but not associated with vision-threatening DR (P = 0.62, OR 0.78, 95% CI 0.28-2.14) stratification by sex, the inverseassociation between CRP and DR was found to be significantly significant in men (P = 0.006, OR 0.35,95% CI 0.16-0.73), but not in women (P = 0.58, OR 0.88,95% CI 0 .29-1.16). CONCLUSION: The data drawn from a Chinese population with T2DM suggest that increasing CRP levels may be inversely associated with development of DR.