Abstract
Purpose:
To evaluate concentrations of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A, placental growth factor (PlGF), and pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) in aqueous humor of patients with neovascular glaucoma prior to, and shortly after, an intravitreal ranibizumab injection.
Methods:
The prospective interventional comparative study involved 20 eyes of 20 patients with surgery-required advanced NVG and 20 control subjects. Aqueous humor was collected at the time of the IVR injection (pre-IVR) and at the time of anti-glaucoma surgery (post-IVR). Aqueous humor was also collected at the time of cataract surgery in control subjects. The levels of VEGF-A, PlGF and PEDF in aqueous humor and plasma were measured with ELISA.
Results:
The mean aqueous humor VEGF-A, PlGF and PEDF concentrations in the pre-IVR eyes were significantly higher than in those of the control subjects (all p<0.001), whereas the plasma levels showed no significant difference. There was a statistically significant correlation between the aqueous humor PlGF and the VEGF-A concentration (r=0.612, p=0.003). The mean aqueous humor PlGF in the post-IVR eyes dramatically decreased from 1704.83 ± 757.82 to 19.02 ± 14.65 pg/mL (p<0.001). The VEGF-A level showed a similar decreased trend from 3697.64 ± 2104.47 pg/mL to 183.54 ± 130.35 pg/mL (p<0.001). The PEDF concentration remained unchanged (19±12ug/ml).
Conclusions:
Aqueous humor concentrations of VEGF-A, PlGF and PEDF were significantly elevated in the eyes with NVG, within one week after intravitreal injection of ranibizumab, VEGF-A and PlGF concentration decreased to subnormal levels, while the PEDF concentration remained unchanged.<br /> <br />