A Flow Cytometric Analysis of Vitreous Inflammatory Cells in Patients with Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy

• Main Authors: Mojca Urbančič, Veronika Kloboves Prevodnik, Daniel Petrovič, Mojca Globočnik Petrovič
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hindawi Limited 2013-01-01
• Series: BioMed Research International
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/251528

The purpose of this study was to investigate inflammatory cells in vitreous from patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) using flow cytometric analysis. Twenty-eight patients with PDR requiring vitrectomy because of macular traction or tractional retinal detachment were enrolled in the study (n=28), and 6 patients with macular hole (MH) formed the control group. Samples of vitreous and peripheral venous blood were obtained at the beginning of vitrectomy. T lymphocytes were found in vitreous from patients with PDR, and CD4/CD8 ratio was higher in vitreous (median 4.3) compared to blood (median 1.9; P=0.003). No B lymphocytes were detected in vitreous. The percentage of histiocytes/macrophages was significantly higher in vitreous (median 62.1) in comparison with blood (median 5.5; P<0.0001). No lymphocytes were detected in vitreous of the control group. There were more T lymphocytes in vitreous from patients with active PDR. No association between cells in the vitreous and visual acuity improvement after surgery was found. In conclusion, T lymphocytes are found in vitreous from patients with PDR and reflect the activity of PDR but do not seem to predict visual prognosis. Higher CD4/CD8 ratio in vitreous compared to blood from patients with PDR is consistent with local inflammatory response in PDR.