title: Type IV collagen serum and vitreous fluid levels in patients with diabetic retinopathy.
abstract: We compared the levels of type IV collagen (IV-C) in vitreous fluid and serum and the levels of glycosylated haemoglobin in 47 patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (DR) and 21 patients with non-inflammatory retinopathies. Levels of IV-C were found to be higher in the vitreous fluid in patients with DR than in patients with non-inflammatory retinopathy (53.2 +/- 14.9 microg/l versus 14.7 +/- 4.5 microg/l). Serum levels were likewise higher in patients with DR (349.7 +/- 106.2 microg/l versus 97.7 +/- 13.1 microg/l) as were glycosylated haemoglobin levels (8.3 +/- 0.3% versus 5.2 +/- 0.4%). In addition, levels of type IV collagen in the vitreous fluid were found to be higher in the patients who had been diabetic for > or = 10 years than in patients who had been diabetic for < 10 years (54.8 +/- 15.5 microg/l versus 16.8 +/- 4.6 microg/l). We conclude that accumulation of vitreous fluid IV-C may relate to high levels of glycosylated haemoglobin and long duration of diabetes. This suggests that the concentration of IV-C in vitreous fluid, and possibly also the serum levels of IV-C, reflects the progression of DR. Further investigation is needed to verify this and to investigate whether or not measuring IV-C levels is a useful means to assess therapeutic effects and/or prognosis of diabetic microangiopathy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Gunma University School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kotajima
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kanda
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yuuki
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kishi
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fukumura
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tamura
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D024141:Collagen Type IV / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism*; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012164:Retinal Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism; D013997:Time Factors; D014822:Vitreous Body / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D024141:Collagen Type IV; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin