The Expression of GDF-15 in the Human Vitreous in the Presence of Retinal Pathologies with an Inflammatory Component

Abstract

Purpose: The presence of growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15), a protein implicated in the regulation of the inflammatory response, was investigated in the vitreous of patients with vitreoretinal disorders.

Methods: Vitreous and plasma samples were collected from patients with idiopathic epiretinal membrane (IERM), macular hole (MH), rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD), nucleus drop (ND), or proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). GDF-15 concentrations were measured using ELISA.

Results: The vitreous levels of GDF-15 were higher in ND (5) and PDR (14) patients (1494 ± 243 and 904 ± 138 pg/mL, respectively) than RRD (3), MH (3), and IERM (8) patients (302 ± 160, 288 ± 24, and 254 ± 91 pg/mL, respectively). The vitreous levels of GDF-15 were significantly higher in patients with inflammatory vitreoretinal disorders (p < 0.0001).

Conclusions: This is the first report showing that GDF-15 appears to be expressed in the vitreous, and that its expression is significantly higher in the presence of a vitreoretinal disorder in which there is an inflammatory component.

• Diabetes
• GDF-15
• inflammation
• retina
• vitreous

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Funding

This study was supported by Akdeniz University, Scientific Projects Unit in Turkey (No. 2011.01.0103.020).