Abstract
Purpose :
Analysis of the nerve growth factor (NGF) content in the eye may be very important for clarification of different ophthalmological diseases pathogenesis and evaluation of the treatment efficacy. However, in practice this analysis is impossible except of during surgical interventions. An age-related cataract has relatively weak influence on concentrations of neurotrophic factors. The aim of the study was to measure NGF levels in the aqueous humor, lacrimal fluid, and blood serum in patients with age-related cataract.
Methods :
Thirty patients (30 eyes) operated for age-related cataract were examined. Exclusion criteria were any serious ophthalmic or somatic pathology, high refractive errors. Mean age of patients was 71.7±8.0 years (range 57-86 years); there were 13 men and 17 women. Collection of stimulated lacrimal fluid was performed by a pipette on the day preceding surgery; the aqueous humor of the anterior chamber and the blood were sampled during the phacoemulsification of a cataract. The concentration of NGF was measured in the studied biological media by an enzyme immunoassay (EIA) using a Quantikine Elisa test system (R&D Systems, USA) on a ChemWell 2910 automatic analyzer (Awareness Technology Inc., USA).
Results :
The concentration of NGF was 24.3±11.9 (range 2.7-48.8) pg/mL in aqueous humor, 24.8±9.5 (5.9-41.6) pg/mL in serum, and 81.5±10.1 (58.9-99.9) pg/mL in lacrimal fluid. The concentration of NGF in the aqueous humor correlated well with its content in serum (Pearson’s correlation coefficient r was 0.60, P<0.000) and was rather close to it: median (interquartile range) for the ratio of concentrations in aqueous humor and serum was 0.96 (0.72-1.18). The correlation of NGF concentrations in lacrimal fluid and aqueous humor was relatively weak (r=0.31) and insignificant.
Conclusions :
In patients with age-related cataract NGF concentration in the aqueous humor significantly correlated with its content in serum. The NGF concentration in lacrimal fluid did not show any correlation with the NGF level in aqueous humor or serum. These data indicate that, unlike brain-derived and ciliary neurotrophic factors, lacrimal fluid analysis could not serve as a basis for approximate evaluation of NGF concentration in the aqueous humor.
This is a 2020 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.