Abstract
Purpose:
The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of duration and extent of retinal detachment (RD) on the expression of intravitreal cytokines and chemokines.
Methods:
60 patients with rhegmatogenous RD and 20 age and gender-matched control patients with idiopathic epiretinal membranes were included in the study. Vitreous samples were taken undiluted at the beginning of primary vitrectomy and immediately stored at -80 °C. The following clinical parameters were assessed from the RD patients prior to surgery: symptom duration (days); number of quadrants detached; fovea-off - fovea-on (assessed by optical coherence tomography); RD height and refractive power. Concentrations of 40 different cytokines and chemokines were measured in the vitreous of RD eyes by Luminex bead assay, compared to control patients and correlated to clinical parameters in patients with RD.
Results:
10 cytokines and chemokines were significantly up-regulated in the vitreous of RD eyes compared to the control group including tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMP) 1 and 2, macrophage inflammatory protein 1 alpha, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, interleukin 8 and 6, interferon gamma-induced protein-10 (IP-10), brain-derived neurotrophic factor, transforming growth factor beta and platelet-derived growth factor AB/BB. Levels of TIMP-1, a modulator of extracellular matrix (ECM), significantly decreased with longer symptom duration of RD suggesting reduced protection against ECM remodeling (p=0.0013). The concentrations of pro-inflammatory IL-8 and myeloperoxidase (MPO) were significantly higher when 2 or more quadrants were involved in eyes with RD (p=0.0004; p=0.0032). In eyes with detached fovea levels of the pro-inflammatory IP-10 were significantly elevated compared to fovea-on eyes (p=0.0416;). Height of RD or refractive power did not cause any significant changes of protein concentrations.
Conclusions:
Our study results depict the alteration of intravitreal cytokines and chemokines in eyes with RD and demonstrate that duration and extent of RD influence their intraocular expression. Hence, these data add fundamental understanding to reported observations of poorer final visual acuity in eyes with longer and more severe forms (fovea-off) of RD and may help to develop potential therapeutics administered before or during retinal repair surgery to facilitate the restoration of maximum visual acuity.