Relationship Between Aqueous Humor Levels Of Cytokines And Axial Length In Patients With Diabetic Retinopathy

Objective: To assess the relationship between the aqueous humor levels of interleukin-8(IL-8),interleukin-10(IL-10),vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF),vascular adhesion molecule-1(VCAM-1),basic fibroblast growth factor(b FGF),vascular endothelial growth factor-B(VEGF-B),and placental growth factor(PLGF)and axial length in eyes with diabetic retinopathy(DR).Methods: This study included 65 patients who visited the Department of Ophthalmology at the Affiliated hospital of Inner Mongolia medical university.The study group consisted of 30 DR patients who underwent cataract surgery or vitrectomy between October 2017 and February 2018,and the control group consisted of 35 age-related cataract patients who underwent conventional cataract surgery in October 2017.DR was diagnosed and classified according to the results of indirect ophthalmoscopy and fundus color photography.Biometry was also performed to measure axial length.The concentrations of IL-8,IL-10,VEGF,VCAM-1 and b FGF in the aqueous were measured by cytometric bead array,VEGF-B and PLGF were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay.Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS for Windows vision 20.0.The normal distribution of data was tested by the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test.The differences among the control,NPDR,and PDR groups were tested by one-way analysis of variance(ANOVA)or Kruskal–Wallis tests,according to normality assumptions and homogeneity of variances.The correlations between axial length and cytokines were analyzed by the Pearson or Spearman correlation coefficient,depending on normality assumptions.Two-tailed p<0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: The study included 65 eyes of 65 patients(27men,38women),including 14 patients with nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy(NPDR),16 patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy(PDR)and 35 patients with age-related cataract.Compared with the control group,the aqueous levels of VEGF(p<0.001),IL-8(p=0.005),IL-10(p=0.001),VCAM-1(p=0.001)and VEGF-B(p =0.005)in the PDR group were significantly higher.In NPDR group,the aqueous level of PLGF was negatively correlated with axial length(r=-0.576,P=0.031),while the aqueous levels of IL-10(r=0.533,P=0.049)and VCAM-1(r=0.566,P=0.035)were positively correlated with axial length.In the control group,a negative correlation between VEGF and axial length(r=-0.440,P=0.008),and a positive correlation between VCAM-1 and axial length(r=0.395,P=0.019)were found.In the PDR group,the aqueous levels of all cytokines did not significantly correlate with axial length.Conclusion:(1)Negative correlations with VEGF,PLGF and axial length were observed,which may suggest that these cytokines play a role in promotion effects in the development of DR.(2)Positive correlations with IL-10,VCAM-1 and axial length were observed,which may suggest that these cytokines play a role in protective effects in the development of DR.(3)The levels of IL-8,IL-10,VCAM-1,VEGF-B,and VEGF in the PDR group were significantly higher than in the control group.This finding indicates that other angiogenesis factors and inflammatory cytokines,as well as VEGF,may be involved in the pathogenesis of DR.