Catecholamines in diabetic retinopathy

An attempt has been made to correlate the catecholamines and diabetic retinopathy. Plasma catecholamines and their urinary metabolite, vanillylmandelic acid, were measured in 53 cases of different stages of diabetic retinopathy and the results compared with the 30 cases of the control group. The study revealed a rise in total plasma catecholamines that was significant in the preretinopathic stage and highly significant in the early as well as in the late stages of diabetic retinopathy. Thus, catecholamines may play an important role in the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy by stimulating the counterregulatory hormones, namely growth hormone and glucagon.