Expression And Significance Of Stromal Cell-derived Factor-1 And Its Receptor CXCR4 In Patients With Pterygium

Objective: To investigate the expression and significance of stromal cell-derived factor-1(SDF-1)and its receptor CXCR4 in patients with pterygium at different ages.Methods: Totally 60 surgical specimens(30 eyes younger than 50 years old and 30 eyes older than 50 years old)undergoing primary pterygium resection at the No.474 Hospital of Chinese PLA from January 2018 to October 2018 were collected.During the same period,30 cases of normal conjunctival tissue(15 eyes in 15 cases younger than 50 years old and 15 eyes in 15 cases older than 50 years old)of patients undergoing strabismus correction and retinal detachment reduction were collected.The expression and localization of SDF-1/CXCR4 in pterygium texture were researched by hematoxylin-eosin staining and immumohistochemical staining,and the relationship between the expression of SDF-1/CXCR4 and the clinical characteristics of patients was analyzed.The mean optical density of SDF-1/CXCR4 was quantitatively determined by IPP 6.0 software.Results: SDF-1/CXCR4 only showed slightly positive or no expression of basal cells in the conjunctival epithelium in normal conjunctival tissues.The expression of SDF-1/CXCR4 in pterygium was positive in whole-layer cells and vascular endothelial cells,and there were significant differences in expression level.The Expression quantity in the basal cells was more pronounced and showed significant polarity.The expression of SDF-1/CXCR4 in pterygium tissue was significantly higher than that in normal conjunctival tissue(P<0.05).The expression of CXCR4 in patients younger than 50 years old was greater than that in age greater than 50 years.The difference in patient expression was statistically significant(P<0.05).Conclusion: The increased expression of SDF-1/CXCR4 is associated with the occurrence and development of pterygium,suggesting that detection of SDF-1/CXCR4 may be one of the indicators for the occurrence and development of pterygium,postoperative recurrence and efficacy evaluation.SDF-1/CXCR4 may also become a drug therapeutic target for pterygium,and a new research direction.