[Treatment of patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy and serotonin insufficiency]

30 patients (19--female and 11--male) with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (DR) were examined. The age of patients and of the controls ranged from 25 to 72 years. The duration of diabetes mellitus amounted on the average to 16.4 +/- 4.1 years. The cause of diabetes mellitus was evaluated for the moment of examination as of mean severity and in the stage of subcompensation. Ophthalmologically, relapsing hemophthalmias and extensive preretinal hemorrhages in the eye fundus were typical for this group of patients. Standard techniques were used to determine the index of erythrocytes deformability and the concentration of serotonin in the blood plasma. All patients were prescribed intramuscular injections of 1% ATP solution, 2 ml daily during 2 weeks. Pentoxifillin was prescribed perorally, 0.2 g x 3 times per day during 30 days, enterogel--15 g x 3 times per day during 7 days. The simultaneous administration of pentoxifylline and enterogel normalized the erythrocytes elasticity and the concentration of serotonin in the blood plasma. Clinically, it led to an improvement of visual acuity (0.18 +/- 0.008) and to resorption of hemorrhages in the eye fundus. The obtained results are indicative of the advisability to use simultaneously pentoxifylline, enterogel and ATP in a comprehensive medication treatment of proliferative DR with chronic serotonin insufficiency.