[Circulating bone marrow-derived stem cells in patients with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy].
OBJECTIVE
The current study was designed to investigate the role of circulating bone marrow (BM)-derived stem cells in the pathogenesis of polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV), a distinct type of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD).


METHODS
Thirty one clinically documented PCV patients were enrolled. Circulating BM-derived stem cells were collected from the patients' peripheral blood and cultured. Colony forming capacity (Hill assay) and migration activity (Boyden chamber system) were examined and analyzed.


RESULTS
Colony forming units (CFU-Hill) were significantly fewer in bilateral PCV patients than in unilateral PCV patients. CFU-Hill was impaired in patients with larger (> 5000 microm) PCV lesions compared with patients with smaller PCV lesions. Migration activity of BM-derived stem cells was also reduced significantly in the bilateral PCV patients than in the unilateral PCV patients.


CONCLUSIONS
Similar to CNV associated with AMD, impaired functional activity of circulating BM-derived stem cells was observed in PCV patients with bilateral or larger lesions. Circulating BM-derived stem cells may have a role in the pathogenesis of PCV.
Otani
Atsushi
A
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan. otan@kuhp.kyoto-u.ac.jp
Sasahara
Manabu
M
Yodoi
Yuko
Y
Kameda
Takanori
T
Tsujikawa
Akitaka
A
Yoshimura
Nagahisa
N
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015862:Choroid Diseases / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008268:Macular Degeneration / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D023461:Myeloid Progenitor Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology