The relationship between pentraxin 3 levels and diabetic retinopathy in patients with type 2 diabetes
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65495/eurjimr.2026.20Keywords:
diabetes mellitus, diabetic complication, diabetic retinopathy, pentraxin 3Abstract
ABSTRACT
Background: Diabetic retinopathy (DRP) is one of the most common microvascular complications of diabetes. Microvascular complications of diabetes, such as diabetic macular edema and proliferative DRP, are among the major causes of vision loss in the active working-age population. Pentraxin 3 (PTX3) is a protein that is rapidly released during local inflammatory processes in the body. Increased inflammation in diabetes damages the capillaries in the eye, thereby laying the groundwork for retinopathy.
Materials and Methods: A total of 82 participants were included in the study. Twenty of these were healthy volunteers. Of the 62 diabetic patients, 41 had DRP and 21 did not. PTX 3 levels were compared between the groups with DRP, without DRP, and the healthy group. The patient group comprised 28 patients with non-proliferative DRP (NPDRP), 13 patients with proliferative DRP (PDRP) and 21 diabetic patients without DRP. The PTX 3 levels of the four groups were compared to assess the severity of DRP. PTX 3 levels in patient serum samples were determined using the ELISA method.
Results: PTX3 levels did not show a statistically significant difference between the three study groups. It has been observed that PTX3 levels decrease as the severity of retinopathy increases in patients with diabetes; however, this decrease is not statistically significant. The reduction was not statistically significant, even when compared with the healthy control group.
Conclusion: PTX3 levels did not increase in patients with DRP. Furthermore, PTX3 levels did not rise as the severity of DRP increased.
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Written informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in this prospective study. All participants were fully informed about the study’s objectives, procedures, potential risks, and benefits, and their voluntary participation was ensured.The author(s) have made their research data accessible.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Alpaslan Karabulut, Tayfun Şahin (Author)
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