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Rafael Simó, MD, PhD; Mónica Higuera, BSc; Marta García-Ramírez, PhD; Francesc Canals, PhD; José García-Arumí, MD, PhD; Cristina Hernández, MD, PhD

Arch Ophthalmol. 2008;126(8):1076-1081.

Objectives  To determine levels of apolipoprotein (apo) A-I and apo H in the vitreous fluid of patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) and to examine whether apo A-I and apo H messenger RNA (mRNA) levels are overexpressed in the diabetic retina.

Methods  Vitreous samples from 4 diabetic patients with PDR and 8 nondiabetic patients with macular hole were selected for proteomic analysis. Fourteen additional samples (7 from patients with PDR and 7 from patients with macular hole) were used for Western blot analysis. Fourteen postmortem eyes (7 from diabetic and 7 from nondiabetic donors) were used to perform quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis.

Results  Intravitreous apo A-I and apo H levels were significantly higher in patients with PDR than in the control group. The apo A-I and apo H mRNA levels obtained from the retinas of diabetic donors were significantly higher than those obtained from nondiabetic donors. Retinal pigment epithelium was the main contributor to the differences.

Conclusions  Levels of apo A-I and apo H are elevated in the vitreous fluid of diabetic patients with PDR. In addition, we provide the first evidence, to our knowledge, that a higher expression of apo A-I and apo H mRNAs exists in the diabetic retina.

Clinical Relevance  The results of this study may be relevant to new treatment strategies aimed toward reducing the development of diabetic retinopathy.

Author Affiliations: Diabetes Research Unit (Drs Simó, García-Ramírez, and Hernández and Ms Higuera), CIBERdem (Drs Simó, García-Ramírez, and Hernández), Proteomics Laboratory, Medical Oncology Research Program (Dr Canals), and Department of Ophthalmology (Dr García-Arumí), Institut de Recerca Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.

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