title: Somatomedin-C (SM-C). Study in diabetic patients with and without retinopathy.
abstract: In the present study we evaluated somatomedin-C (Sm-C) plasma levels in diabetic patients, with and without retinopathy. One hundred and thirty four diabetic patients (65 type I and 69 type II) and 90 controls, strictly matched for age and sex, were enrolled in the study. Ophthalmoscopy and fluorescein angiography allowed to distinguish: 49 patients without retinopathy, 45 patients with background retinopathy, and 40 with proliferative retinopathy. Growth hormone (GH) and Sm-C plasma levels were measured using a pool of 20-24 blood samples over 24h. Sm-C levels in type I (0.62 +/- 0.11 U/ml) and type II (0.56 +/- 0.09 U/ml) patients were significantly decreased (p less than 0.01) when compared to controls (0.89 +/- 0.30 U/ml). The mean daily secretion of GH was significantly (p less than 0.01) greater in diabetic patients (7.8 +/- 2.6 ng/ml) than in controls (4.1 +/- 1.5 ng/ml), but no correlation was found between Sm-C and GH (r = 0.15; p = n.s.). Our findings did not show any correlation between Sm-C plasma levels and either the existence of retinopathy, regardless of the degree of microvascular damage, or duration of the disease, or degree of metabolic control, as evaluated by HbA1c.
authors.affiliation: Cattedra di Endocrinologia, Universita degli Studi di Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Nardelli
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Guastamacchia
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Di Paolo
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Balice
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rosco
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Santoro
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lollino
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Giorgino
mesh_terms: D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood*; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D012016:Reference Values; D013002:Somatomedins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D007328:Insulin; D013002:Somatomedins; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I