Alterations of fatty acid composition of erythrocyte membrane in type 2 diabetes patients with diabetic retinopathy.

Purpose: To investigate the relationship between the erythrocyte membrane fatty acid components and diabetic retinopathy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Methods: The study was performed in 40 patients. Thirty of the 40 were type 2 diabetic patients classified into three groups according to Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study Group (ETDRS) criteria: 10 with mild-moderate nonproliferative retinopathy (group 1), 10 with moderate-severe nonproliferative retinopathy (group 2), and 10 with proliferative retinopathy (group 3). Ten age- and sex-matched healthy nondiabetic individuals were selected as controls. We examined the fatty acid composition of the erythrocyte membrane by a gas chromatographic method.

Results: In patients with nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy, we found statistically significant decreases in palmitic and stearic acids, and statistically significant increases in oleic, linoleic, behenic, and lignoceric acids, while arachidic and arachidonic acids remained unchanged. Except for the increase in arachidic acid, the results were similar to those in the proliferative retinopathy patients.

Conclusions: The fatty acid component of the erythrocyte membrane alters in type 2 diabetes mellitus. Prospective studies are needed to evaluate the relationship between the free-fatty acid composition of erythrocytes and diabetic retinopathy.