[Activity of angiotensin-converting enzyme in the blood and tear of patients with diabetic retinopathy].

There have recently been data on the important role of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) in the pathogenesis of diabetes mellitus and its complications; however, the relationship of systemic and local RAS to the development of diabetic retinopathy (DR) remains little studied. This study determined the activity of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), the key enzyme of RAS in the blood and tear of patients with DR. There was an increase in the blood activity of ACE and a decrease in its lacrimal activity as compared with their normal levels. A relationship was found between the activity of ACE in the blood and tear, on one hand, and the stage of DR, the type of diabetes mellitus, its severity and compensation, and the presence of nephropathy in a patient, on the other.