Lipids are often used as markers of diabetic complications, such as the sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy, but researchers in Australia have found that apolipoproteins, proteins that bind fats in the body, may be better biomarkers for diabetics, according to a study published in Diabetes. The team looked at lipids and lipoproteins in the blood of 224 people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, and found that the levels of apolipoprotein AI and apolipoprotein B were linked with markers of systemic and retinal microvascular dysfunction, seen in diabetic retinopathy. The researchers concluded that these proteins could be stronger biomarkers than lipids in diabetic eye disease, and they may also be useful in other diabetic complications affecting small blood vessels. More | Abstract