Abstract
Purpose:
To investigate the involvement of helper T (Th)-related cytokines at the onset of exudative age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD) and retinal vein occlusion (RVO) with macular edema patients.<br />
Methods:
Seventeen eyes of 17 patients with wet AMD, 6 eyes of 6 patients with RVO who had undergone intravitreal injection of anti-VEGF antibody, and 8 eyes of 7 patients with cataract (Cat) who underwent Cat surgery were studied. Undiluted aqueous humor samples were collected at the first injection of anti-VEGF antibody in wet AMD and RVO, and at the initiation of Cat surgery in Cat. PDGF-BB, IL-1β, IL-1rα, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-7, IL-8, IL-9, IL-10, IL-12, IL-13, IL-15, IL-17A, Eotaxin, bFGF, G-CSF, GM-CSF, IFN-γ, IP-10, MCP-1, MIP-1α, MIP-1β, RANTES, TNFα and VEGF in the aqueous humor were measured by the Bio-Plex kit® (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc.). The cytokines with values below limits of detection were assigned a numerical value of 0 pg/ml for statistical analysis. Levels of cytokines and correlations between VEGF and other cytokines were evaluated by Wilcoxon signed-rank test and Spearman's correlation, respectively. The level of statistical significance was set under 0.05.<br />
Results:
In levels of cytokines, levels of IL-12, IP-10, MIP-1β and VEGF in wet AMD, and of IL-7, IL-8, IL-12, IL-13, bFGF, IP-10, MCP-1 and VEGF in RVO were significantly higher than those in Cat. In correlations between VEGF and other cytokines, there were positive correlation with IL-12 (rs =0.88, p＜0.0019) and negative correlation with IL-7 (rs=0.74, p＜0.018) in Cat, positive correlation with IL-12 (rs=0.93, p＜3.44x10 -8) in wet AMD, and positive correlations with IL-6 (rs=0.89, p＜0.0094), IL-9 (rs =0.84, p＜0.017), IL-12 (rs =0.94, p＜0.0024, G-CSF (rs =0.84, p＜0.017), MCP-1 (rs =0.77, p＜0.036) and negative correlation with MIP-1β (rs =0.77, p＜0.036) in RVO, respectively.<br />
Conclusions:
The present study indicated that Th1-related cytokines in wet AMD, Th1- and Th2-related cytokines in RVO were elevated simultaneously with increase of macrophage-related cytokines. The findings suggest that Th cells may be involved in the development of wet AMD and RVO.