Fibrinolytic activity in patients with diabetic retinopathy.

ABSTRACT

Tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA), plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1) and plasminogen concentrations were measured in 62 patients with non-insulin dependent (type II) diabetes mellitus. Patients were grouped according to their degree of retinopathy; 13 patients with no evidence of retionpathy (BDR) and 26 patients with proliferative retinopathy (PDR). Twenty healthy individuals served as normal controls. PAI-1 levels of all diabetic groups were found to be lower than control group. But the difference was statistically significant only between PDR and controls. Plasminogen levels in diabetic groups were higher than in the control group, especially in the PDR group. There was no difference in t-PA levels between diabetics and the control group. It is concludedthat PAI is closely related with the development of retinopathy in diabetic patients.