Serum concentrations of transforming growth factor-beta 1 in predicting the occurrence of diabetic retinopathy in juvenile patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus

Abstract

In the present study, we have decided to evaluate if serum transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-β1) concentrations may have diagnostic value in predicting the occurrence of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in juvenile patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). The study included 81 children and adolescents with T1DM and 19 control subjects. All study participants had biochemical parameters examined, underwent an eye examination, and 24-hour blood pressure monitoring. Moreover, serum concentrations of TGF-β1 were measured. The group of patients with T1DM and nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) had statistically significant higher serum levels of TGF-β1 (P = 0.001) as compared to T1DM patients without retinopathy as well as the healthy control subject. The threshold serum TGF-β1 concentrations which had a discriminative ability to predict the presence of DR were calculated using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves analysis and amounted to 443 pg/ml. The area under the ROC curve (AUC ROC) was 0.80, and its population value was in the range of 0.66 to 0.94. The sensitivity and specificity were calculated to be 72% and 88%, respectively. Our results suggest that TGF-β1 serum concentrations may be an additional parameter in predicting the occurrence of DR in juvenile patients with T1DM. © 2013 Katarzyna Zorena et al.