Abstract
Purpose :
This study aims to establish a correlation of serum inflammatory markers with aqueous samples in patients without diabetic retinopathy. Several cytokines are elevated in the aqueous and vitreous of patients with advanced diabetic retinopathy(DR) and may be future targets for therapy to prevent DR progression. However, the correlation of these ocular inflammatory markers with serum inflammatory markers is unknown. Currently the only serum marker for Diabetes is HbA1c which does not directly reflect the current DR stage.
Methods :
This cohort was a cross-sectional study of patients with no diabetic retinopathy who underwent vitrectomy surgery for non-inflammatory conditions. Demographic and clinical data was obtained from chart review. Aqueous humor and serum samples were obtained from all patients concurrently and analyzed for 24 different inflammatory markers. The correlation between serum and ocular cytokines were evaluated using Pearsons correlation.
Results :
A total of 70 patients were included in this analysis. 51.4% of the patients were female and 91.4% were Caucasian. 60% of patients were pseudophakic. One patient was treated with Imatinib for metastatic GI Stromal cancer and 4 patients were treated with Latanoprost for elevated IOP. No other patients were on systemic or topical anti-inflammatory medications. 40% of patients underwent surgery for vitreous floaters, 23% for ERM, 20% for Macular Hole, and other non-diabetic indications for vitrectomy. Of the 24 markers evaluated, a total of 6 cytokines were found to have a statistically significant correlation between the aqueous and serum. The following markers had a positive correlation coefficient FIT 3L (R=0.3017, p=0.01), MCP 3 (R=0.4072, p< 0.001), MDC (R=0.3025, p=0.01), IL4 (R=0.554, p=<0.001). A negative correlation was seen in VEGF (R=-0.257, p=0.032) and sCD40L (R=-0.2708, p=0.02).
Conclusions :
This study documents the correlation of ocular to serum inflammatory markers in normal eyes. Subsequent longitudinal analyses from this clinical trial studies will evaluate the association between serum and ocular cytokines in various stages of diabetic retinopathy. The data in this study will be invaluable as a baseline for future analysis to evaluate cytokines in diabetic retinopathy.
This abstract was presented at the 2022 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Denver, CO, May 1-4, 2022, and virtually.