Raised plasma fibronectin concentration is related to the presence of diabetic retinopathy

Summary Plasma concentrations of fibronectin were studied in 152 diabetics (77 males, 75 females), divided according to their hypoglycemic treatment, and in 60 normal subjects (30 males, 30 females) closely matched for age. In both sexes no significant difference of plasma fibronectin (PF) levels was observed between controls and treated groups. In the whole group of diabetics PF levels were weakly correlated with age (r=0.16; p<0.05) and not associated with HbA₁ or duration of illness. Both male and female diabetics, either on sulfonylureas or insulin, with retinopathy (background, except for 2 proliferative in the group of insulin-requiring females) were characterized by significantly higher PF concentrations than either controls or patients without retinopathy. Presented in part at the 19th Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, Oslo, 14–17 September 1983, and published in abstract form in Diabetologia25, 193, 1983.