Abstract

SO.04.11

Cytokines in the aqueous humour as predictive parameters for immune reactions following penetrating keratoplasty

Maier P., Heizmann U., Böhringer D., Reinhard T.
University Eye Hospital, Freiburg

Objective: Allow the prediction of the development and the course of endothelial immune reactions (IR). Therefore, we analysed different cytokines in the aqueous humor of patients at the time of PKP. By means of prospective clinical follow-up we tested whether patients who developed an IR postoperatively had different preoperative cytokine patterns compared to patients who did not develop an IR postoperatively.
Methods: In total we analysed 202 samples of aqueous humour from 202 patients undergoing PKP. In 87 samples active TGF-beta2 was measured via sandwich ELISA. The following cytokines were analysed by cytometric bead arrays: Interleukin-1b, Interleukin-6, Interleukin-8 and Interleukin-12 from 96 samples, Interleukin-10 (IL10) and TNF-alpha from 115 samples as well as Interleukin 2 (IL2), Interleukin 4 (IL4), Interleukin 5 und Interferon gamma from 19 samples.
Results: We found that patients who developed an IR following PKP had statistically significantly higher levels of IL2 (mean: without IR 1,9pg/ml (n=17), with IR 3,8pg/ml (n=2), p<0,05) and IL4 (mean: without IR 1,9pg/ml (n=17), with IR 5,8pg/ml (n=2), p<0,05) in the aqueous humour compared to patients who did not show any signs of an IR following PKP. A similar trend could be seen for IL10 (mean: without IR 2,44pg/ml (n=84), with IR 2,97pg/ml (n=31), p=0,06), which was not statistically significant. The levels of all other cytokines did not differ between patients with and without IR following PKP.
Conclusions: As patients, who developed an IR following PKP, had higher levels of IL2, IL4 and IL10 in the aqueous humour, the determination of these cytokines prior to PKP might allow a prediction on who has a high respectively a low risk for developing an IR. However, until now the number of patients who developed an IR is small, so that the predictive power of these cytokines has to be confirmed by longer follow-up.

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