The relationship between the level of serum soluble CD40L and diabetic retinopathy

Objective To investigate the relationship of serum soluble CD40L with diabetic retinopathy(DR) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus(DM). Methods Serum soluble CD40L level was measured by ELISA in 30 diabetic patients without diabetic retinopathy (NDR), 29 patients with background diabetic retinopathy (NPDR), 31 patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR), and 32 normal control(NC) subjects. Results The serum soluble CD40L levels were higher in NDR,NPDR and PDR groups [(4.55±3.66), (6.65±4.24), (8.31±5.23) μg/L,P0.01] than in NC group[(2.01±1.35)μg/L]. Conclusions Sorluble CD40L level in serum is significantly increased in type 2 DM with diabetic retinopathy,which may be correlated with pathogenesis of DR.