skip to content
Dovepress - Open Access to Scientific and Medical Research
View our mobile site

8852

Intraocular and systemic levels of vascular endothelial growth factor in advanced cases of retinopathy of prematurity

Original Research

(1819) Views  (493) Full article downloads

Authors: Raul Velez-Montoya, Carmen Clapp, Jose Carlos Rivera, et al

Published Date August 2010 Volume 2010:4 Pages 947 - 953
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/OPTH.S11650

Raul Velez-Montoya1, Carmen Clapp2, Jose Carlos Rivera2, Gerardo Garcia-Aguirre1, Virgilio Morales-Cantón1, Jans Fromow-Guerra1, Jose Luis Guerrero-Naranjo1, Hugo Quiroz-Mercado3

1Retina Department Asociación para Evitar la Ceguera en México IAP, México City, México; 2Department of Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Querétaro, México; 3Department of Ophthalmology, Denver Health Medical Center, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Colorado, USA

Purpose: To measure vitreous, aqueous, subretinal fluid and plasma levels of vascular ­endothelial growth factor in late stages of retinopathy of prematurity.

Methods: Interventional study. We enrolled patients with clinical diagnoses of bilateral stage V retinopathy of prematurity, confirmed by b-scan ultrasound and programmed for vitrectomy. During surgery we took samples from blood, aqueous, vitreous, and subretinal fluids. The vascular endothelial growth factor concentration in each sample was measured by ELISA reaction. A control sample of aqueous, vitreous and blood was taken from patients with congenital cataract programmed for phacoemulsification. For statistical analysis, a Mann–Whitney and a Wilcoxon W test was done with a significant P value of 0.05.

Results: We took samples of 16 consecutive patients who met the inclusion criteria. The vascular endothelial growth factor levels in the study group were: aqueous, 76.81 ± 61.89 pg/mL; vitreous, 118.53 ± 65.87 pg/mL; subretinal fluid, 1636.58 ± 356.47 pg/mL; and plasma, 74.64 ± 43.94 pg/mL. There was a statistical difference between the study and the control group (P < 0.001) in the aqueous and vitreous samples.

Conclusion: Stage 5 retinopathy of prematurity has elevated intraocular levels of vascular endothelial growth factor, which remains high despite severe retinal lesion. There was no ­statistical difference in plasma levels of the molecule between the control and study group.

Keywords: VEGF, late stages, ROP





 

Other articles by Dr Raul Velez-Montoya



Readers of this article also read:

Evidence-based decision-making within the context of globalization: A “Why–What–How” for leaders and managers of health care organizations
Role of aliskiren in cardio-renal protection and use in hypertensives with multiple risk factors
Exacerbation rate, health status and mortality in COPD – a review of potential interventions
Anesthesiologists’ perception of patients’ anxiety under regional anesthesia
Cytotoxicity of prostaglandin analog eye drops preserved with benzalkonium chloride in multiple corneoconjunctival cell lines
Improvement of adenoviral vector-mediated gene transfer to airway epithelia by folate-modified anionic liposomes
Perception of risk and benefit in patient-centered communication and care
The relationship between deliberate self-harm behavior, body dissatisfaction, and suicide in adolescents: current concepts
Zinc oxide nanoparticles as selective killers of proliferating cells
Cumulative clinical experience from over a decade of use of levofloxacin in community-acquired pneumonia: critical appraisal and role in therapy