A Proteomic Study of Different Types of Diabetic Macular Edema

This study investigates distinct protein markers associated with different morphologic features of diabetic macular edema, focusing on diffuse retinal thickening, cystoid macular edema, and cystoid macular degeneration. A total of 48 eyes of 33 patients with diabetic macular edema were included in the study and categorized into the aforementioned groups. Preoperative aqueous humor samples were collected from nine diabetic macular edema patients and subjected to tandem mass spectrometry labeling using tandem mass tags quantitative proteomics analysis to compare protein profiles in the aqueous humor among the different morphologic features of diabetic macular edema. The analysis revealed that the efficacy of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor treatment was significantly better in the diffuse retinal thickening and cystoid macular edema groups compared to the cystoid macular degeneration group (P 1.2 or P Associations were found between cystoid macular degeneration formation and factors like the complement system, apoptotic pathway, and lipid metabolizing factors, providing insights for further understanding diabetic macular edema pathogenesis.