Abstract
Purpose:
To determine if levels of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) in the aqueous humor are related with the pathophysiology of pseudoexfoliation syndrome (PSX) compared to healthy patients.
Methods:
Two groups of patients undergoing cataract surgery: First with clinical diagnosis of pseudoexfoliation and other group of healthy subjects with no history of other ocular diseases or eye procedures. We obtained aqueous humor samples during the surgery and were stored at -80°C to its analysis. ELISA was performed to determinate VEGF. Mann-Whitney test was performed for the statistical analysis, and a p<0.05 was considered a statistically significant difference.
Results:
Twenty samples were obtained from patients diagnosed with PSX and 4 samples from healthy patients. The mean age of patients with PSX was 71 years and of healthy group was 81 years. The mean VEGF levels in aqueous humor of PSX group was 176.3pg/mL and in healthy group was 249.7pg/ml. We did not found a statistically significant difference between groups (p=0.1057).
Conclusions:
Although the anterior segment ischemia may be a predisposing factor for development of PSX, in our sample there was no statistically significant increase in the amount of VEGF in aqueous humor. Maybe in patients with Glaucoma secondary to PSX are related with an increased level of VEGF, it is necessary develop more studies including Glaucoma secondary to PSX patients.