Metabolomic signatures of early stage Diabetic Retinopathy

What is it about?

To identify serum metabolomic fingerprints using 1H-NMR in Diabetic Retinopathy (DR). Methods and Materials: 1H-NMR was performed on 32 subjects [11 type 2 diabetic patients each without DR (group A) and with DR (group B) along with 10 control (group C)]. Results: The study unraveled 1H-NMR based serum metabolomic fingerprints of diabetic retinopathy showed significant variations in Ribitol, D-glucose, Fructose-6-phosphate, Uridine Diphosphate-N-acetyl glucosamine and Glycerophosphocholine. The study envisaged that abnormal polyol metabolism and accumulation of ribitol contributory to development of diabetic retinopathy. Presence of Uridine Diphosphate-N-acetylglucosamine in blood has been also confirmed its probable role in progressive neurodegeneration in diabetic retinopathy. NMR spectra also indicated that downregulation of glycerophosphocholine is directly related to retinol metabolism and subsequent unusual chromophore synthesis facilitating retinal degeneration.

Featured Image

Photo by Mykenzie Johnson on Unsplash

Photo by Mykenzie Johnson on Unsplash

Why is it important?

We identified some important serum markers of early stage Diabetic retinopathy affected individuals. These markers further correlated with biological pathways to match with the context of biomarker exploration.