Lipid peroxidation and antioxidant status in patients with diabetic retinopathy.

Non Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus is responsible for 60% cases of retinopathy in the population and is one of the common cause of blindness. Oxidative stress as measured by the levels of malondialdehyde, superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and vitamin C was measured in 50 normal controls, 40 diabetics without complications, 22 diabetics with proliferative and 20 with nonproliferative retinopathy respectively. Our finding suggests that lipid peroxidation increases (P < 0.001) with the increase in severity and duration of diabetes. Antioxidants SOD and vitamin C decrease with the progression of the disease, however GPx tends to increase in the later part of the disease.