Abstract
Purpose:
Several studies have demonstrated that the levels of some immune mediators in aqueous humor are elevated in exfoliation glaucoma, pseudophakic glaucoma, primary open-angle glaucoma, and angle-closure glaucoma. However, the concentrations of immune mediators in normal-tension glaucoma (NTG) patients remain unclear. Therefore, we determined the immune mediator profile in aqueous humor samples obtained from medically treated eyes with NTG.
Methods:
Twenty-six patients (26 eyes) with NTG undergoing trabeculectomy (NTG group) and 18 patients (18 eyes) with cataract undergoing phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation (control group) were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Patients with a history of intraocular surgeries including laser treatment, or other ocular diseases were excluded. The ages in NTG group and control group were 52.4 +/- 6.4 (37-65) and 72.2 +/- 9.3 (51-90) years [mean +/- standard deviation (range)], respectively (p<0.001, independent t-test). Undiluted aqueous humor samples were collected at the start of surgery, and cytometric beads array kits were used to determine the concentrations of 28 immune mediators including angiogenin, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, vascular endothelium growth factor (VEGF), monokine induced by interferon gamma (Mig), interferon gamma inducible protein-10 (IP-10), and monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1. The levels of each immune mediator were compared between both groups using by multiple regression analysis. P <0.05 was considered significant.
Results:
Angiogenin, IL-8, IP-10, Mig, and MCP-1 were detected in majority of cases. In NTG group and control group, the angiogenin levels were 5552.0 (1161.1-27316.4) and 5322.0 (3666.4-8245.0) pg/mL [median (range)], the IL-8 levels were 1.8 (0-20.0) and 2.0 (0-10.6) pg/mL, the IP-10 levels were 40.2 (0-269.4) and 66.9 (8.0-417.2) pg/mL, the Mig levels were 9.5 (0-104.0) and 29.8 (0-173.6) pg/mL, and the MCP-1 levels were 233.7 (136.8-806.3) and 340.1 (171.9-779.9) pg/mL, respectively. The differences were not statistically significant.
Conclusions:
Our study suggests that there is no immune mediator to express specifically in medically treated NTG patients without history of intraocular surgery.