ABSTRACT
Diabetes mellitus causes metabolic and physiological abnormalities in the retina suggestive the role of inflammation in the development of diabetic retinopathy. Tumor necrosis factor [TNF]-alpha is a pleiotropic cytokine implicated for early inflammatory changes seen in the diabetic retina. A strong correlation between the serum levels of TNF-o and the severity of diabetic retinopathy has been described. The aim of this study is to estimate the serum levels of TNF-o in Egyptian type 2 diabetic patients with different grades of retinopathy and correlating these levels to the grade of retinopathy. Eighty subjects participated in the study and they were classified into four groups; group [A] with type 2 diabetes but no retinopathy, group [B] with non proliferative type 2 diabetic retinopathy, group [C] with proliferative type 2 diabetic retinopathy and group [D] which was a control group of subjects matched for age and sex with the other groups. The study revealed a progressive elevation of serum TNF-alpha in e 2 diabetic patients according to the progression of retinopathy and that the serum levels of TNF-alpha were significantly correlated with the grade of retinopathy which was also significantly correlated with age and duration of diabetes but not with sex. A common feature of a number of new therapies for diabetic retinopathy is inhibition of the production of inflammatory mediators