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Protein hormone linked to diabetic retinopathy

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Erythropoietin is an ischemia-induced angiogenic factor that acts independently in proliferative diabetic retinopathy, a group of Japanese researchers has found.

Daisuke Watanabe, MD, PhD, and colleagues measured both erythropoietin and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels in the vitreous fluid of 144 patients. Vitreous proliferative potential was measured according to the growth of retinal endothelial cells in vitro and with soluble erythropoietin receptor.

The median vitreous erythropoietin level in 73 patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy was significantly higher than in 71 patients without diabetes (464 mIU per milliliter compared with 36.5 mIU per milliliter). The mean VEGF level in patients with retinopathy was also significantly higher than in patients without diabetes.

The study is published in the New England Journal of Medicine.