Patients with diabetes are at great risk of developing lower extremity ulcers. The management of diabetic foot ulcers typically includes early recognition and appropriate clinical care. Recent advances in wound treatment include topical growth factor therapy, which has been successful in diabetic wounds. Growth factors are decreased in wound fluid; this may be due to decreased supply, increased binding, or increased degradation of the naturally occurring growth factors. This study investigates the activity of the insulin-degrading enzyme in wound fluid. Wound fluid was obtained from patients with (n = 17) and without (n = 4) diabetes. Insulin degradation was assayed by incubating [(125)I]insulin with wound fluid and precipitation in trichloroacetic acid. Fluid from nondiabetics degraded 2.22 +/- 0.73%, whereas diabetic fluid degraded significantly more (6.13 +/- 1.48%; P < 0.05). In patients with diabetes, the degradation of insulin by wound fluid correlated with glucose control (hemoglobin A(1c); r(2) = 0.5353; P < 0.001), and patients with worse outcomes (i.e. amputation) had higher wound fluid insulin degradation. The biochemical characteristics of insulin degradation in the wound fluid were consistent with the characteristics of insulin-degrading enzyme. These data suggest that glucose control is a critical factor in wound healing, but a reduction in the insulin-degrading activity in the wound fluid is also a potential therapeutic target.