ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the leading cause of blindness among the working-age population. The earliest morphological manifestation of the disease is pericyte loss, as shown by animal models. AIMS: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the presence of pericytes in vitreous samples (VS) from diabetic and nondiabetic patients. METHODS: VS from 125 patients with and without diabetes were analyzed. Thirty-three of the VS contained blood vessels and were therefore included in further analysis. Pericyte status was evaluated using α-smooth muscle actin and quantified using the following scoring system: total loss (3), >50% loss (2), <50% loss (1), and no loss (0). RESULTS: Of the 33 VS, 29 samples were from patients with diabetes and 4 from nondiabetic patients. Six diabetic cases had a score of 1, 8 diabetic cases had a score of 2, and 15 cases had a score of 3. A positive correlation between glycemia levels and pericyte loss was observed (p = 0.0016; Spearman's r = 0.61). Moreover, all nondiabetic cases had a score of 0 (sensitivity and specificity = 100%). CONCLUSION: Pericyte loss in VS might be a sensitive and specific marker of DR that correlates with glycemia levels. Furthermore, VS, which are currently discarded, may contain valuable information for diabetic management.
Subject(s)
Diabetic Retinopathy/surgery , Early Diagnosis , Pericytes/pathology , Vitrectomy/methods , Vitreous Body/pathology , Adult , Aged , Diabetic Retinopathy/pathology , Diabetic Retinopathy/physiopathology , Disease Progression , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Prognosis , Retrospective Studies , Time Factors , Young AdultABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: SOX-10 has been shown to be a sensitive marker of cutaneous melanoma. This study aimed to evaluate Sox-10 expression in uveal melanoma. METHODS: A total of 40 tissue blocks of enucleated eyes with uveal melanoma were cut and stained using an anti-SOX-10 mouse monoclonal antibody and HMB-45 antibody. RESULTS: SOX-10 showed exclusive nuclear positivity in 100% of the uveal melanoma cases (38/38). HMB-45 showed cytoplasmic positivity in 97.3 (37/38). Positivity for SOX-10 was also noted in the inner and outer nuclear layers of the retina in 78% of the enucleated eyes. CONCLUSIONS: SOX-10 expression proved to be the most sensitive marker for uveal melanoma, and therefore, we propose a modified panel for the diagnosis of uveal melanoma that includes both SOX-10 and HMB-45. The observation of distinct, diffuse nuclear SOX-10 expression in retinal inner and outer nuclear layers is a finding that warrants further investigation as a marker for retinoblastoma.
