Quantitative analysis of vascular endothelial growth factor and pigment epithelium-derived factor in aqueous humor before and after intravitreal injection of ranibizumab in proliferative diabetic retinopathy / 中华眼底病杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To analyze the concentrations of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) in aqueous humor of patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) before and after intravitreal injection of ranibizumab.Methods Twenty-five eyes of 20 PDR patients were collected as the PDR group.Twenty-five eyes of 21 senile cataract patients were collected as the control group.There were no statistical significance in gender (x2 =0.223), age (Z=-1.555) and intraocular pressure (Z=0.225) between the two groups (P＞0.05).Samples of aqueous humor (0.1 ml) were collected just before and 7 days after the injection of ranibizumab in PDR group.Samples of aqueous (0.1 ml) humor were collected just before cataract surgery in control group.The concentrations of VEGF and PEDF in the aqueous humor were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.Results The VEGF and PEDF concentration in the aqueous humor were reduced significantly after intravitreal injection of ranibizumab in PDR group (Z=-4.072,-4.319;P＜0.05).The concentrations of VEGF and PEDF in the aqueous humor before intravitreal injection of ranibizumab in PDR group were significantly higher than the control group (Z=-5.228, 4.706;P＜0.05).The VEGF concentration in the aqueous humor after intravitreal injection of ranibizumab in PDR group were similar to control group (Z=-1.557,P＞ 0.05).However, the concentration of PEDF in the aqueous humor after intravitreal injection of ranibizumab in PDR group still higher than control group (Z=-2.475, P＜0.05).The ratio of VEGF/PEDF before and after intravitreal injection of ranibizumab was statistically different (Z=-2.058, P＜0.05), but was the same between PDR group and control group (Z=-0.456,-0.844;P＞0.05).The aqueous humor concentrations of VEGF and PEDF were not significantly correlated with each other, neither in PDR group (r=-0.195,-0.174;P＞0.05) nor in control group (r=-0.286, P＞0.05).Conclusions Aqueous humor concentrations of VEGF and PEDF are significantly elevated in eyes with PDR.Intravitreal injection of ranibizumab significantly decreased the VEGF and PEDF in the aqueous humor after 7 days.