Chemokines in aqueous humour before and after intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide in eyes with macular oedema associated with branch retinal vein occlusion.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the aqueous humour levels of chemokines before and after an intravitreal injection of triamcinolone acetonide (IVTA) in eyes with macular oedema associated with a branch retinal vein occlusion (ME-BRVO).


METHODS
Single-centre, prospective, consecutive interventional case series.


METHODS
Seventeen eyes of 17 consecutive patients with ME-BRVO who underwent IVTA were studied. Seven eyes without retinal vascular disease served as control.


METHODS
All patients with ME-BRVO underwent IVTA.


METHODS
The optical coherence tomographically determined foveal thickness (FT) and the aqueous humour levels of inflammatory chemokines of the C-C subfamily, including eotaxin, monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1), macrophage inflammatory protein-1α (MIP-1α), β (MIP-1β), and RANTES was determined before the IVTA (baseline) and at 1 week after the IVTA.


RESULTS
At the baseline, only MCP-1 and MIP-1β were detected in the aqueous, and MIP-1β was significantly higher in eyes with a ME-BRVO than in controls (p = 0.004). The level of both of these chemokines was not correlated with the FT (p = 0.654 and p = 0.608, respectively). One week after IVTA, the FT was significantly decreased (p < 0.001), and the levels of MCP-1 and MIP-1β were also significantly reduced (p < 0.001 and p = 0.044, respectively). The decrease in the FT was correlated with the decrease in only MIP-1β (r = 0.58, p = 0.020).


CONCLUSIONS
Alterations of the aqueous level of MIP-1β reflect the improvement of the macular oedema after IVTA in eyes with ME-BRVO. This indicates that the steroid-dependent ME-BRVO was closely related with the level of MIP-1β.
Kunikata
Hiroshi
H
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai 980-8574, Japan. kunikata@oph.med.tohoku.ac.jp
Shimura
Masahiko
M
Nakazawa
Toru
T
Sonoda
Koh-Hei
KH
Yoshimura
Takeru
T
Ishibashi
Tatsuro
T
Nishida
Kohji
K
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001082:Aqueous Humor / Q000378:metabolism*; D018932:Chemokine CCL2 / Q000378:metabolism; D054407:Chemokine CCL4 / Q000378:metabolism; D018925:Chemokines / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005584:Fovea Centralis / Q000473:pathology; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006801:Humans; D058449:Intravitreal Injections; D008269:Macular Edema / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012170:Retinal Vein Occlusion / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D014222:Triamcinolone Acetonide / Q000008:administration & dosage*
C111835:CCL2 protein, human; C066507:CCL4 protein, human; D018932:Chemokine CCL2; D054407:Chemokine CCL4; D018925:Chemokines; D005938:Glucocorticoids; D014222:Triamcinolone Acetonide