{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,4]],"date-time":"2026-03-04T17:29:57Z","timestamp":1772645397490,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":156,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,4]],"date-time":"2026-03-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1772582400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a major complication of both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T1DM and T2DM). Disease progression can result in visual impairment, primarily due to diabetic macular edema (DME) or proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). Although several ocular treatments are available for DME, a subset of patients fails to respond, reflecting the multifactorial, complex, and systemic nature of DR. Inflammatory biomarkers can be classified according to different characteristics, including imaging biomarkers\u2014most commonly assessed using optical coherence tomography (OCT)\u2014and molecular biomarkers, which are defined by their biochemical and biophysical properties. Pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines, chemokines, adipokines, and inflammation-related enzymes are recognized as key inflammatory biomarkers and can be detected in the vitreous humour, aqueous humour, tears, serum, and other biological tissues. The identification and characterization of reliable biomarkers may help determine disease severity, monitor disease progression, and predict the risk of specific outcomes, thereby aiding in the prevention of end-stage disease (prognostic biomarkers). In addition, biomarkers may serve as predictive tools for therapeutic response, guiding personalized treatment strategies and enabling ongoing monitoring. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the role of inflammatory biomarkers in the diagnosis and management of DR and DME.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm15051949","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,4]],"date-time":"2026-03-04T13:11:36Z","timestamp":1772629896000},"page":"1949","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Inflammatory Biomarkers in Diabetic Macular Edema"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0490-5889","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ant\u00f3nio","family":"Campos","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Santo Andr\u00e9 Hospital, ULSRL, 2410-197 Leiria, Portugal"},{"name":"ciTechCare, Center for Innovative Care and Health Technology, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, 2411-901 Leiria, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2319-105X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria Jo\u00e3o","family":"Furtado","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Unidade Local de Sa\u00fade de Santo Ant\u00f3nio, 4099-001 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Institute for the Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar, University of Porto, ICBAS, 4099-002 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"given":"\u00c2ngela","family":"Carneiro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Unidade Local de Sa\u00fade de S\u00e3o Jo\u00e3o, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Cardiovascular R&D Center\u2014UniC@RISE, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9148-2786","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Angelina","family":"Meireles","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Unidade Local de Sa\u00fade de Santo Ant\u00f3nio, 4099-001 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Institute for the Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar, University of Porto, ICBAS, 4099-002 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3842-2466","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carlos","family":"Neves","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Unidade Local de Sa\u00fade de Santa Maria, 1649-028 Lisbon, Portugal"},{"name":"University Ophthalmology Clinic, ISAMB, Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon, 1649-004 Lisbon, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0477-1641","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ant\u00f3nio Francisco","family":"Ambr\u00f3sio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, Coimbra Institute for Clinical and Biomedical Research (iCBR), University Coimbra, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal"},{"name":"Center for Innovative Biomedicine and Biotechnology (CiBB), University Coimbra, 3004-531 Coimbra, Portugal"},{"name":"Clinical Academic Center of Coimbra (CACC), 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal"},{"name":"Association for Innovation and Biomedical Research on Light and Image (AIBILI), 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9622-8779","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"In\u00eas","family":"Leal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Unidade Local de Sa\u00fade de Santa Maria, 1649-028 Lisbon, Portugal"},{"name":"University Ophthalmology Clinic, ISAMB, Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon, 1649-004 Lisbon, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3511-1515","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jo\u00e3o","family":"Figueira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, Coimbra Institute for Clinical and Biomedical Research (iCBR), University Coimbra, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal"},{"name":"Association for Innovation and Biomedical Research on Light and Image (AIBILI), 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal"},{"name":"Ophthalmology Department, Unidade Local de Sa\u00fade de Coimbra, 3004-561 Coimbra, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1014-0483","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jo\u00e3o Pedro","family":"Marques","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, Coimbra Institute for Clinical and Biomedical Research (iCBR), University Coimbra, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal"},{"name":"Association for Innovation and Biomedical Research on Light and Image (AIBILI), 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal"},{"name":"Ophthalmology Department, Unidade Local de Sa\u00fade de Coimbra, 3004-561 Coimbra, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Jos\u00e9","family":"Henriques","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IPR\u2014Instituto Portugu\u00eas de Retina, 1600-581 Lisbon, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Manuel","family":"Falc\u00e3o","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Unidade Local de Sa\u00fade de S\u00e3o Jo\u00e3o, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Department of Surgery and Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Nuno","family":"Gomes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Braga Hospital, 4710-243 Braga, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7523-2418","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rita","family":"Flores","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medical Sciences, Nova Medical School, 1169-056 Lisbon, Portugal"},{"name":"Ophthalmology Department, Unidade Local de Sa\u00fade de S\u00e3o Jos\u00e9, 1150-199 Lisbon, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8676-0833","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rufino","family":"Silva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, Coimbra Institute for Clinical and Biomedical Research (iCBR), University Coimbra, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal"},{"name":"Association for Innovation and Biomedical Research on Light and Image (AIBILI), 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal"},{"name":"Ophthalmology Department, Unidade Local de Sa\u00fade de Coimbra, 3004-561 Coimbra, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5673-1561","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bernardete","family":"Pessoa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Unidade Local de Sa\u00fade de Santo Ant\u00f3nio, 4099-001 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Unit for Multidisciplinary Research in Biomedicine, Institute for the Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar, University of Porto, (UMIB ICBAS\u2014UP), 4050-313 Porto, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"556","DOI":"10.2337\/dc11-1909","article-title":"Global Prevalence and Major Risk Factors of Diabetic Retinopathy","volume":"35","author":"Yau","year":"2012","journal-title":"Diabetes Care"},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"Magliano, D., Boyko, E., and IDF Diabetes Atlas 10th Edition Scientific Committee (2024, September 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