“Association between platelet activating factor acetylhydrolase and diabetic retinopathy: Does inflammation affect the retinal status?”

• We investigated the role of plasma platelet activating factor acetylhydrolase (pPAF-AH) in pathogenesis and progression of diabetic retinopathy (DR).
• The quantitative calculation of pPAF-AH activity was based on ELISA immunoassay technique for human PAF-AH.
• The pPAF-AH activity was raised in diabetic patients exhibiting proliferative retinal lesions compared to the healthy individuals and to diabetic patients with NPDR.
• The activity of pPAF-AH increased in parallel with DR severity.

AimTo assess the role of plasma platelet activating factor acetylhydrolase (PAF-AH) in pathogenesis and progression of diabetic retinopathy (DR).Materials and methodsSixty eight diabetics and 23 age-frequency-matched non-diabetic patients underwent blood sampling and the plasma PAF-AH activity was calculated. The diabetic patients were further classified into two groups, according to the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) classification, based on indirect fundoscopy and fluorescein angiography. Thirty seven patients with non-proliferative DR (NPDR) and 31 patients with proliferative DR (PDR) were finally included in the study.ResultsThe plasma PAF-AH activity was increased in diabetic patients with PDR (0.206 μmol/min/ml) compared to control group (0.114 μmol/min/ml, post-hoc Bonferroni comparison test: p < 0.0001) and to NPDR group (0.147 μmol/min/ml, post-hoc Bonferroni comparison test: p = 0.012).ConclusionsThe activity of PAF-AH in the plasma increases in parallel with DR severity.