Mediators of Inflammation

Research Article

TNF-Alpha Levels in Tears: A Novel Biomarker to Assess the Degree of Diabetic Retinopathy

Table 1

Demographic and laboratory results of cohort.
  Controls
Healthy subjects		Cases   value
 Diabetic patient
 NPDRPDR
No. of subjects16 1616N.S.#  
N.S.*
Age, yrs (range)53 (47–58)54 (49–67)59 (52–73)   
Gender (M/F)(8/8)(9/7)(10/6)   
BMI (Kg/m2)21 (19–26)26 (20.3–40)#28 (20.3–52)#<0.05#  
 
Glucose (mmol/L)5.7 (4.9–6.1)6.6 (5.8–6.3)6.7 (6.1–7.2)   
HbA1c (%)5.6 (5.3–6.1)7.2 (6.5–11.5)#7.8 (7.2–12.5)#<0.05# 
 
DM duration (yrs)Not available # <0.001#  
<0.05*
BUN (mg/dL)15 (6–20)30 (24–48)# <0.001#  
<0.001*
Protein urine (mg/L)5.3 (2.6–10)10.6 (5.6–20)# <0.001#  
<0.001*
GFR (mL/min/1.73 m2) 95 (73–91)82 (46–89)# <0.001#  
<0.001*
BMI: Body Mass Index; DM: Diabetes Mellitus; BUN: Blood Urea Nitrogen; GRF: Glomerular Filtration Rate.
Mann-Whitney -test: diabetic patients versus controls; Wilcoxon signed-rank test: patients with PDR versus patients with NPDR; NS: not significant.