Aqueous Humour Cytokine Changes with Intravitreal Dexamethasone Implant Injection for Diabetic Macular Edema

ABSTRACT

Purpose: To assess changes in aqueous humor (AH) levels of cytokines following dexamethasone intravitreal implant (DEX) injection for diabetic macular edema (DME).

Methods: Sixteen DME and cataract cases series study. Anterior chamber AH sampling was performed at baseline at DEX injection time (T1), cataract surgery 8 weeks afterward (T2), and whenever DME relapsed (T3) in order to assess changes in IL-1β, IL-3, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, MCP-1, IP-10, TNF-α, and VEGF levels.

Results: IP-10 and MCP-1 levels significantly decreased at T2 (p = .034 and p = .044, respectively) compared to baseline (T1). Relapsed DME cases (T3) showed significantly higher levels of IL-6 (p = .028), IL-8 (p = .005), IP-10 (p = .013) and MCP-1 (p = .005) compared to T2.

Conclusion: IP-10 and MCP-1 AH levels seem to be related to DEX intraocular action, decreasing after injection and increasing when DME relapses. In addition, IL-6 and IL-8 may play a role in DME late evolution and clinical relapse beyond DEX effect.

Keywords:

• Aqueous humour
• chemokine
• cytokine
• diabetic macular edema
• intravitreal dexamethasone implant

DECLARATION OF INTEREST

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