Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 23, 2026

Quantification of Diabetes-induced Adherent Leukocytes in Retinal Vasculature
Published on: January 24, 2025
Reduced forearm reactive hyperaemia in normoalbuminuric subjects with Type 1 diabetes and retinopathy
1Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth, Hampshire, UK. j.gibney@st-vincents.ie
Aim:
To determine whether the forearm vasodilatory response to reactive hyperaemia (RH) is reduced in normoalbuminuric subjects with Type 1 diabetes mellitus and retinopathy compared with subjects with no retinopathy.
Methods:
Forearm RH, an indicator of endothelial function, was measured, using strain-gauge plethysmography, in 39 normoalbuminuric subjects (22 with retinopathy) with long-standing Type 1 diabetes mellitus.
Results:
were evaluated in relation to conventional risk factors for atherosclerosis, and C-reactive protein (CRP), which we have recently determined to be an independent correlate of forearm RH.
Results:
Forearm RH was decreased in subjects with retinopathy compared with those with no retinopathy (219 +/- 182 vs. 473 +/- 355, P < 0.01). Both retinopathy and CRP proved to be independent and negative predictors, and explain 27% of the variance, in forearm RH.
Conclusion:
Retinopathy in subjects with Type 1 diabetes mellitus may reflect a generalized process of endothelial dysfunction, even in the absence of microalbuminuria.
Related Concept Videos
Diabetic Nephropathy
Diabetic Retinopathy
Type I Diabetes III: Clinical Manifestations
Hyperglycemia
Type II Diabetes Mellitus III: Clinical Manifestations and Diagnosis
Type II Diabetes II: Pathophysiology