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. 2024 Aug 16;14(16):1797.
doi: 10.3390/diagnostics14161797.

Aqueous Humor Cytokines in Idiopathic Epiretinal Membrane: Correlation with Disease Severity

Tommaso Torresin  1 , Angelo Greggio  1 , Rino Frisina  2 , Lorenzo Motta  1 , Irene Gius  3 , Giulia Midena  4 , Edoardo Midena  1   4
Affiliations

Aqueous Humor Cytokines in Idiopathic Epiretinal Membrane: Correlation with Disease Severity

Tommaso Torresin et al. Diagnostics (Basel). .

Abstract

Background: To analyze the concentration of aqueous humor (AH) cytokines in eyes with idiopathic epiretinal membrane (iERM) and to investigate their potential correlation with disease severity.

Methods: Retrospective cross-sectional case-control institutional study. A total of 16 eyes of 16 iERM patients and 14 eyes of 14 age-matched healthy controls were enrolled. AH samples were analyzed for various biomarkers using a glass-chip protein array. Cytokines associated with inflammation, fibrosis, angiogenesis, and glial signal transduction were quantified.

Results: Significant differences in cytokine concentration were observed between the iERM group and controls, with 19 cytokines elevated in the iERM group (among them IL-6, IL-8, PDGF-AB, PDGF-BB, TGFB-1, TGFB-2, TGFB-3, VEGF A, VEGF C, VEGF D, p < 0,05, 95% confidence interval). Correlation analysis revealed associations between cytokine levels and iERM severity. Notably, stages 2, 3, and 4 of iERM demonstrated increased levels of various biomarkers.

Conclusions: This study provides insights into the complex molecular interactions underlying iERM pathogenesis, describing a correlation between neuroinflammation and iERM severity.

Keywords: aqueous humor; cytokines; epiretinal membrane; proteomics.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Comparison of significant cytokines concentration in iERM and Healthy Control (HC) groups. IL-6: Interleukin-6; IL-8: Interleukin-8; TARC (CCL17): Thymus and Activation-Regulated Chemokine; FRACTALKINE (CX3CL1): Fractalkine (C-X3-C Motif Chemokine Ligand 1); GDNF: Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; GM-CSF: Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor; GROa (CXCL1): Growth-Regulated Alpha Protein (C-X-C Motif Chemokine Ligand 1); MIF: Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor; PDGF-AB: Platelet-Derived Growth Factor-AB; PDGF-BB: Platelet-Derived Growth Factor-BB; TGFβ-3: Transforming Growth Factor Beta-3; TGFβ-1: Transforming Growth Factor Beta-1; TGFβ-2: Transforming Growth Factor Beta-2; VEGF A: Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; VEGF C: Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor C; VEGF D: Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor D; IL-12p40: Interleukin-12 Subunit p40; IL-12p70: Interleukin-12 p70; MIF: Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor.
Figure 2
Figure 2
% normalized correlation between iERM stage and significant cytokine concentrations. Note the positive correlation between cytokine levels and the iERM stage, indicating that higher cytokine concentrations are associated with more advanced stages of iERM. IL-6: Interleukin-6; IL-8: Interleukin-8; GM-CSF: Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor; IL-12p40: Interleukin-12 Subunit p40; IL-12p70: Interleukin-12 p70; MIF: Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor; TGFβ-1: Transforming Growth Factor Beta-1; TGFβ-2: Transforming Growth Factor Beta-2; TGFβ-3: Transforming Growth Factor Beta-3; VEGF A: Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; VEGF C: Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor C; VEGF D: Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor D; TARC (CCL17): Thymus and Activation-Regulated Chemokine (CCL17); FRACTALKINE (CX3CL1): Fractalkine (C-X3-C Motif Chemokine Ligand 1); GROa (CXCL1): Growth-Regulated Alpha Protein (C-X-C Motif Chemokine Ligand 1); PDGF-AB: Platelet-Derived Growth Factor-AB; PDGF-BB: Platelet-Derived Growth Factor-BB; GDNF: Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor.
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