Abstract
To determine whether ovarian steroids have any causal relationship to the development of diabetic retinopathy, serum total estrogens and estradiol levels were measured by radioimmunoassay in diabetic patients.
The serum total estrogens and estradiol levels among diabetics with or without retinopathy were not significantly different from those of age-sex matched healthy individuals. No significant differences in serum total estrogens or estradiol levels were found among groups of diabetics classified according to the stages of retinopathy. Furthermore, no significant changes in serum estrogen levels were observed even in diabetics with progressive retinopathy.
The above observations suggest that there is no obvious correlation between serum estrogen levels and the development of diabetic retinopathy.
