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- Title
Deficit of somatostatin-like immunoreactivity in the vitreous fluid of diabetic patients: possible role in the development of proliferative diabetic retinopathy.
- Authors
Simó, Rafael; Lecube, Albert; Hernández, Cristina; Sararols, Laura; García-Arumí, José; Segura, Rosa M.; Casamitjana, Roser; Simó, Rafael; García-Arumí, José; Hernández, Cristina
- Abstract
<bold>Objective: </bold>To evaluate the vitreous levels of somatostatin-like immunoreactivity (SLI) in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR).<bold>Research Design and Methods: </bold>A total of 14 diabetic patients with PDR, in whom a vitrectomy was performed, were included in the study. Sixteen nondiabetic patients, with other conditions requiring vitrectomy, served as a control group. Both venous blood and vitreous samples were collected at the time of vitreoretinal surgery. Patients in whom intravitreous hemoglobin was detectable were excluded. In addition, a correction for plasma levels of SLI and intravitreal proteins was performed. SLI was measured by radioimmunoassay and vitreous hemoglobin by spectrophotometry.<bold>Results: </bold>SLI in the vitreous fluid was significantly lower in diabetic patients than in the control group (68 +/- 18.7 vs. 193.6 +/- 30.8 pg/ml, P < 0.01). The vitreous SLI-to-plasma SLI ratio was strikingly higher in nondiabetic subjects than in diabetic patients with PDR (5.3 [1.2-71.1] vs. 0.6 [0.03-4.1], P < 0.01). After correcting for total vitreous protein concentration, SLI (pg/mg of proteins) remained significantly higher in nondiabetic control subjects than in diabetic patients with PDR (186 [51-463] vs. 7.5 [0.8-82], P < 0.0001). Remarkably, intravitreous levels of SLI were higher than those obtained in plasma in nondiabetic control subjects (193.6 +/- 30.8 vs. 43.5 +/- 10.7 pg/ml, P < 0.0001). Finally, a lack of relationship between plasma and vitreous levels of SLI was observed in both diabetic patients with PDR and nondiabetic control subjects.<bold>Conclusions: </bold>The significantly higher SLI in the vitreous fluid than in plasma detected in nondiabetic control subjects supports the concept that somatostatin plays a relevant role in retinal homeostasis. In addition, the intravitreous deficit of SLI observed in diabetic patients with PDR suggests that it might contribute to the process of retinal neovascularization.
- Subjects
DIABETIC retinopathy; DIABETES
- Publication
Diabetes Care, 2002, Vol 25, Issue 12, p2282
- ISSN
0149-5992
- Publication type
journal article
- DOI
10.2337/diacare.25.12.2282