Cross-Compartment Proteomic Signatures in Human Diabetic Retinopathy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Proteins are consistently elevated in eye fluid samples from diabetic retinopathy patients
Cross-Compartment Proteomic Signatures in Human Diabetic Retinopathy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Diabetic retinopathy (diabetic retinopathy) is a leading cause of preventable blindness, with complex molecular pathophysiology spanning multiple biological compartments.
This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to synthesize proteomic findings from human diabetic retinopathy studies to identify consistent cross-compartment molecular signatures and evaluate their clinical translation potential.
Following a prespecified PRISMA protocol, we searched databases and registries to September 2025.
protein levels ran higher in eye fluid from diabetic retinopathy patients than controls
Twenty-eight studies contributed data.
Fibrinogen chains (FGA, FGB, FGG) were robustly upregulated across compartments and exceeded complement proteins ( β = +1.41; p < 0.001).
Qualitative evidence highlighted vitronectin, RBP4, prothrombin, and afamin as additional stage-specific candidates, while tear- and urine-based markers showed potential for noninvasive screening.
This first integrated systematic review and meta-analysis of multicompartment proteomic studies in diabetic retinopathy shows consistent upregulation of fibrinogen chains across ocular compartments, highlights vitronectin and stage-specific proteins as additional candidates, and establishes a rigorous evidence base to guide biomarker validation and clinical translation.