Correlations between vitreous cytokine levels and inflammatory cells in fibrovascular membranes of patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy.

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the levels of cytokines in the vitreous, and their correlation with the density of inflammatory cells in fibrovascular membranes (FVMs) in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) to evaluate intraocular inflammatory conditions with regard to disease activity. Methods: ). Spearman's correlation was used to assess the association between variables. The Mann-Whitney test was used to assess the differences between independent groups. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used for assessing differences between two related groups. A p value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Patients with active PDR had statistically significantly higher levels of MCP-1 (p = 0.003), VEGF (p = 0.009), and IL-8 (p = 0.02) in the vitreous in comparison with those with inactive PDR. CD45+, CD14+, CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, and CD19+ cells were identified in FVMs for patients with PDR. Statistically significantly higher numerical areal density of T lymphocytes (CD3+, CD4+, and CD8+) was demonstrated in patients with active PDR in comparison with patients with inactive PDR. Moderate to strong correlations were found between either MCP-1 or IL-8 in the vitreous, and the numerical areal density of cells (CD45+, CD3+, CD4+, and CD8+) in the FVMs, and weaker between either MCP-1 or IL-8 in the vitreous and the numerical areal density of CD14+ cells in the FVMs. Conclusions: The correlation of cytokine (MCP-1 and IL-8) vitreous levels with the density of inflammatory cells in FVMs, and differences in cytokine levels in the vitreous between patients with active and inactive PDR, and between the vitreous and serum in PDR indicate the importance of local intraocular inflammation in patients with PDR.

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