Abstract
Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the most common microvascular complication of diabetes
mellitus. Pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) is a strong inhibitor of angiogenesis. Our aim was
to address the predictive value of anti-angiogenic marker(PEDF) for progression of DR.
A total of 118 subjects (healthy, diabetic without retinopathy and diabetic retinopathy) were
studied.Serum angiogenic inhibitor PEDF were determined and the relationship between the DR, levels
of PEDF, age, HbA1c, and duration of diabetes were evaluated.
The mean of PEDF in sera of patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (6.74±2.20
Pg/ml) was significantly higher (p=0.01) than that of healthy control (4.25 ± 0.81 Pg/ml);So The levels
of PEDF increases with progress of diabetic retinopathy and thus, increased levels of PEDF in the
blood indicate microvascular damages in diabetic patients and may be predictor of the progression of
DR.
Keywords: Diabetic retinopathy, Pigment epithelium-derived factor.iabetic retinopathy (DR) is one
of the most common
complications of diabetes,
affecting millions of working adults
worldwide, in which the retina
progressively damaged leading to
D blindness [1].