Dislocated intraocular lenses are associated with increased abundance of vitreous inflammatory cytokines

Abstract

Purpose : The effect of dislocated intraocular lenses (IOL) on vitreous cytokines is not well understood. Currently there is no formal consensus on the urgency of removing or repositioning displaced IOLs, and the use of biobank samples collected from those eyes to serve as controls in proteomics studies is controversial. The purpose of this study is to assess the effect of dislocated IOL (DIOL) on the abundance of vitreous cytokines in comparison to samples collected from pseudophakic and phakic eyes.

Methods : Frozen vitreous samples from DIOL (n=10), pseudophakic (n=10) and phakic (n=10) eyes were selected from our biobank. Those samples had been collected from eyes of patients undergoing primary pars plana vitrectomy. A proximity extension assay was used to test 92 analytes, and the results were compared between the groups.

Results : The levels of C-C Motif Chemokine Ligand 3 (CCL3) and C-C Motif Chemokine Ligand 4 (CCL4) were found to be statistically significantly higher in the DIOL group (4.6 ±0.79 and 4.41 ± 0.61) when compared to the pseudophakic (3.80 ± 0.63 and 3.63 ± 0.53) and phakic groups (3.34 ± 0.43 and 3.05 ± 0.47). The levels of decorin (DCN) were significantly lower in the phakic group (3.3 ± 0.56) than in the pseudophakic (4.75 ± 0.42) and DIOL groups (5.09 ± 0.44).

Conclusions : The increased abundance of inflammatory cytokines observed in vitreous samples from DIOL eyes suggest that their use as controls in proteomics studies should be avoided when possible. When considering the options and timing for management for DIOL cases, ophthalmologists should take into consideration not only the prospect of visual acuity improvement, but also the potential of deleterious effects that could be caused by increased release of inflammatory cytokines in the vitreous.

This abstract was presented at the 2023 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in New Orleans, LA, April 23-27, 2023.