Abstract
Purpose::
To clarify the roles of circulating hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in choroidal neovascularization (CNV) secondary to pathologic myopia (PM)
Methods::
Seventeen eight patients with CNV in PM were included in this study. Intensive ophthalmic fundus examinations including fluorescein angiography, indocyanine angiography and optical coherence tomography were performed in both eyes of all enrolled patients. Peripheral blood was drawn in 24 enrolled subjects and 15 age-matched healthy controls. Functional analyses of HSCs were performed using ex vivo culture system. The relationship between the functional capacities of HSCs and clinical parameters of PM patients associated with CNV was investigated.
Results::
To reveal local ocular factors which affect the occurrence of CNV, clinical parameters were compared between following groups in all enrolled subjects; unilateral CNV (n=21) vs. bilateral CNV (n=57), eyes with CNV vs. without CNV in unilateral affected patients, and primary affected eyes vs. secondary affected eyes in patients with bilateral CNV. However, no statistically significant clinical factors were proven in either group. Next in translational research, we found that colony forming units of endothelial cell were markedly lower in patients with bilateral CNV compared to those with unilateral CNV (45.9±7.8 vs. 13.8±3.7, P<0.001). Systemic characteristics between both groups showed no significant difference.
Conclusions::
We disclosed that impaired functions of HSCs could contribute to bilateral involvement of CNV in PM as one of the systemic factors. HSCs subclinically play possible protective role for the development or progression of CNV. These findings can provide a new insight for the pathogenesis of CNV, and a novel therapeutic strategy of CNV secondary to PM.
Keywords: choroid: neovascularization • myopia • regeneration