PEDF and VEGF plasma level alterations in patients with dry form of age-related degeneration--a possible link to the development of the disease.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of the study is to explore the interaction between stimulators and inhibitors of angiogenesis by measuring pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plasma levels in patients with the wet and dry forms of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).


METHODS
Forty-six subjects with the wet form, 31 with the dry form of AMD as well as 47 non-AMD healthy controls were enrolled in the study. Plasma concentrations of VEGF and PEDF were measured using ELISA test.


RESULTS
A significant decrease in the PEDF plasma level in patients with the dry form of AMD was found. Multivariate analyses of patients and controls adjusted for age, sex, smoking, and concomitant vascular diseases as independent variables revealed that the dry form of AMD was the only independent factor associated with lower plasma PEDF levels (beta = -0.34; p = 0.026). On the contrary, in the wet AMD group, a strong positive correlation between VEGF and PEDF concentrations was observed (Rs = +0.63; p = 0.002), and significantly higher PEDF and VEGF plasma levels in patients with bilateral manifestations of the disease were also found.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that different manifestations of AMD, i.e. the dry and wet forms, may be associated with various altered concentrations of counterbalancing stimulators and inhibitors of the angiogenesis process.
Department of Ophthalmology, Pomeranian Medical University, Szczecin, Poland. annam@pum.edu.pl
Anna
A
Machalińska
Krzysztof
K
Safranow
Katarzyna
K
Mozolewska-Piotrowska
Violetta
V
Dziedziejko
Danuta
D
Karczewicz
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D005136:Eye Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D057092:Geographic Atrophy / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000097:blood*; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000097:blood*; D015843:Serpins / Q000097:blood*; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000097:blood*; D057135:Wet Macular Degeneration / Q000097:blood*; D000099174:Pigment Epithelium-Derived Factor
D015415:Biomarkers; D005136:Eye Proteins; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D015843:Serpins; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D000099174:Pigment Epithelium-Derived Factor