Increased Oxidative Stress In The Aqueous Humor Of Diabetic Eyes

Sang Woong Moon¹, Jung Hyun Park^2,3, Hyeong Gon Yu³

¹Department of Ophthalmology, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, East-West Neo Medical Center
²Department of Ophthalmology Seoul Paik Hospital, Inje University School of Medicine
³Department of Ophthalmology, College of Medicine, Seoul National University

PURPOSE: Oxidative stress is one of the pathogenesis for diabetic microangiopathy. This study investigated if increased oxidative stress is increased in diabetic eyes and in eyes of patients with acute glucose fluctuation.

Methods: 60 diabetic and 26 non-diabetic patients who needed cataract surgery were included. The diabetic patients were divided into subgroups as good control, rapid perioperative reduction and poor control groups according to the perioperative diabetic control. Malondialdehyde (MDA) and total antioxidant status (TAS) in the aqueous humor were determined. Central macular thickness was measured OCT and the correlation with oxidative stress markers were also analyzed.

Results: Higher MDA and lower TAS were detected in the diabetic eyes with respect to the non-diabetic eyes (P=0.002 and <0.001). Similarly, TAS was lower in eyes with severe non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy or proliferative diabetic retinopathy. However, the oxidative stress markers were not different according to the blood sugar control status. The central macular thickness was correlated with aqueous levels of MDA (P = 0.037) or TAS (P = 0.041).

Conclusion: Oxidative stress were increased in diabetic eyes, especially in eyes with advanced diabetic retinopathy and correlated with central macular thickness.