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The female patient initially showed the acquired type of total lipoatrophy at about 8 years of age. At 12 years of age, the onset of diabetes mellitus was speculated from advanced pyodermia and dedentition. At 29 years of age, glucosuria was found, and she developed proteinuria, ascites, and pretibial edema. The physical examination revealed: hepatosplenomegaly, complete absence of subcutanous fat, cutaneous xanthomas, and emaciated facies with pronounced zygomatic arches. Diabetic retinopathy was revealed in the ophthalmological examination, and nephropathy was evident in renal biopsy specimens. She also had peripheral diabetic neuropathy. No adipose tissue was found in the mesenterium under peritoneoscopy. The hepatic biopsy specimen revealed advanced portal liver cirrhosis. Laboratory findings included: hyperlipidemia, elevation of BMR without evidence of hyperthyroidism, impaired renal function, and undetected anti-insulin antibodies and anti-insulin antibodies. Endocrinological examinations revealed normal value, except for an impaired hGH response in the arginine test. C-peptide immunoreactivity was high. Her condition was fairly well controlled by 140 units of insulin injection daily.

We report herein the disappearance of macular hard exudates after the introduction of hemodialysis in diabetic patients. A 62-year-old woman and a 52-year-old man with diabetes mellitus showed hard exudates in the macula of the left eyes. Both patients had previously undergone panretinal photocoagulation in both eyes. During the follow-up, hemodialysis was introduced for deteriorating chronic renal failure caused by diabetic nephropathy. Half a year later, macular hard exudates in the left eyes disappeared dramatically in both patients, but the visual acuity remained the same. No additional laser treatment was done during the observation period. Hemodialysis is considered to have accelerated the resolution of macular hard exudates in both patients. The deposition of macular hard exudates in diabetic patients is due in part to concurrent poor renal function.

Monoclonal antibodies were raised against urine proteins from diabetic patients. An antibody, YO-2, stained three protein bands with apparent molecular weights of 66, 49, and 36 kDa. These bands were not reactive with an anti-human albumin antibody. The urine levels of YO-2-reactive antigen in the normal control were 0.97 +/- 0.37 U/g-Cr (units per gram of urine creatinine) (mean +/- SD). Those of the normo-, micro-, and macroalbuminuric diabetic patients, respectively, were 1.38 +/- 1.36, 2.87 +/- 2.07, and 3.92 +/- 3.33 U/g-Cr. They were significantly higher in the micro- and macroalbuminuric patients. The urine levels of YO-2-reactive antigen had no significant correlation with the urine albumin levels and hemoglobin A1c. We concluded that; a) monoclonal antibody YO-2 recognized a non-albumin urine antigen increasingly excreted in diabetic patients with nephropathy, b) recent glycemic control of diabetes would not significantly affect the urinary excretion rate of YO-2-reactive antigen, and c) the excretion rate and probably the mechanism of YO-2-reactive protein differed from those of albumin. The urine levels of YO-2-reactive antigen could be a clinical marker of diabetic nephropathy.