Abstract

Background: The prevalence of Diabetic retinopathy in Egypt among adult diabetic patients in 2010 was around 20.5%. 90 percent of all cases of blindness from diabetes can be prevented. Copeptin, a novel biomarker (a surrogate to arginine vasopressin was found to increase with diabetic nephropathy. Objectives: to study the level of copeptin in patients with diabetic retinopathy. Methods: The study was conducted on 96 individuals divided into 4 groups. Group I 24 patients with proliferative diabetic retinopaty (PDR), Group II 24 patients with non proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR), Group III 24 diabetic patients with no evidence of retinopathy and Group IV 24 healthy non diabetic individuals. All participants were subjected to full medical history taking, slit lamp biomicroscope fundus examination and measurement of serum fasting blood sugar, 2 hour post prandial blood sugar, glycated hemoglobin, serum creatinine, serum copeptin and urinary albumin creatinine ratio. Results: the study shows a statistically significant rise in the level of copeptin in patients with PDR (Group I) and NPDR (Group II) when compared with those with no diabetic retinopathy (Group III) and the control group (Group IV) P value < 0.001. There was a statistically significant positive correlation with duration of diabetes (r = 0.589) and level of albumin/creatinine ratio (ACR) (r = 0.540) P value < 0.001. Conclusion: : Copeptin was found to be higher in proliferative diabetic retinopathy and non proliferative diabetic retinopathy when compared to diabetics with no retinal complications and healthy individuals with a statistically significant difference. It was found to be significantly higher in diabetic patients in comparison with the normal population. There was a statistically significant positive correlation with ACR and duration of diabetes.

Authors and Affiliations