Aqueous protein concentration in diabetics. Report 5. Relationship between aqueous protein concentration and pathological findings of iridial vessels]

The relationship between aqueous protein concentration (APC) and pathological changes in the iridial blood vessels was investigated in 49 eyes of 45 diabetic patients who underwent cataract surgery. APC was measured with a laser flare-cell meter before surgery. The quantification analysis method (type I, multivariate analysis) revealed that the most relevant factor to APC was the existence of nephropathy followed by, in descending order, the degree of retinopathy and changes in iridial vessels as demonstrated by electron microscopy. When data were reanalyzed after exclusion of the iridial vessels were found to be strongly relevant to APC. These results suggest that breakdown of the blood-retinal barrier contributes to the APC increase in eyes with advanced diabetic retinopathy, and that changes in iridial vessels may mainly influence APC in non- and milder-retinopathy groups.