Abstract
Purpose :
Study Tumor Necrosis Factor alpha (TNF-a) levels in aqueous humor of patients with clinical diagnosis of senile, diabetic and traumatic cataract.
Methods :
Samples of aqueous humor of patients with clinical diagnosis of senile, diabetic and traumatic cataract were collected. TNF-a was quantified by ELISA. Results were analyzed with student’s t test.
Results :
Average concentration of TNF alpha was 180.239 ± 97.80pg/ml in senile cataracts, 185.656 ± 116.431pg/ml in diabetic cataracts and 254.935 ± 220.471pg/ml in traumatic cataracts. There was no statistical difference between senile and diabetic cataracts (p=0.453), senile and traumatic cataracts (p=0.310), or diabetic and traumatic cataracts (p=0.322).
Conclusions :
Due to comparable values of TNF-a in aqueous humor of senile, diabetic and traumatic cataracts, knowing there is an overexpression of Tumor Necrosis Factor receptor (TNFR) in diabetic and traumatic cataracts, we propose an upregulation of TNFR in diabetic and traumatic cataracts. This would justify a predominant inflammatory mechanism in diabetic and traumatic cataract. Thus, we propose that senile cataracts have a different immunophysiopathology from diabetic and traumatic cataract.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2017 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017.