SERUM ANGIOTENSIN-CONVERTING ENZYME IN DIABETIC-PATIENTS

Serum angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) levels are higher in patient s with diabetes mellitus than in many others. Techniques are available to grade different degrees of diabetic retinopathy, which can demonst rate a relationship between ACE and diabetic retinopathy. In this stud y, patients with diabetic retinopathy had higher serum ACE levels (6.3 +/- 0.2) than nondiabetic patients (4.3 +/- 0.5) (p < 0.001). In addi tion, the mean serum ACE level in diabetic patients with nonproliferat ive retinopathy (5.55 +/- 0.4) was less than that in diabetic patients with proliferative retinopathy (6.63 +/- 0.25) (p = 0.02). Due to the variability in individual serum ACE levels and the frequent use of AC E inhibitors by hypertensive diabetics, these techniques are not suita ble for retinopathy screening programs. However, the graded relationsh ip demonstrated by these data may have relevance for the pathophysiolo gy of diabetic retinopathy.