Circulating cystatin C, a protein encoded by the CST3 gene, could potentially be used as a biomarker to identify patients with type 2 diabetes at risk for sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy.
In a multicenter study conducted in three outpatient ophthalmology clinics in the United Kingdom and two centers in India, 13 previously verified circulating biomarkers for sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy (DR) were evaluated. Five hundred thirty-eight participants, approximately half from the U.K. and half from India, were included, and 629 blood samples were collected. Weighted logistic