Higher levels of prorenin predict development of diabetic retinopathy in patients with type 2 diabetes

The final, definitive version is available at http://online.sagepub.com/. All rights reserved. © SAGE PublicationsThe aim was to determine whether serum prorenin levels affect the development of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in type 2 diabetes. Baseline serum prorenin levels were measured in 196 patients (85 males, 111 females) with type 2 diabetes without DR using the antibody-activating direct prorenin assay. The fundi were checked regularly. The participants were divided into two groups based on the serum prorenin levels (high and low). We used Kaplan―Meyer analysis to detect differences in the development of DR between the two groups within the same gender. Kaplan―Meyer analysis showed that males with a high serum prorenin level tended to develop DR earlier and more frequently than males with a low prorenin level ( p = 0.004 by the log rank test). However, there was no difference in the development of DR between high and low groups in females (p = 0.58). Serum prorenin levels in males with type 2 diabetes could be a new prognostic indicator of the development of DR