title: Levels of thrombopoietin in aqueous humor of patients with noninfectious acute anterior uveitis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To measure thrombopoietin (TPO) levels in the serum and aqueous humors of patients with noninfectious acute anterior uveitis.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective, comparative, controlled study. Serum and aqueous humors were obtained from the eyes of 16 patients with noninfectious acute anterior uveitis. TPO levels were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The results obtained were compared with those of a control group.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Serum concentrations of TPO were not significantly different between control individuals and patients with active anterior uveitis. Aqueous humor TPO levels were 54.46±16.24 pg/mL in the eyes of patients with uveitis, and 34.32±11.63 pg/mL in the eyes of controls. The difference between the two groups was significant (Mann-Whitney U-test for independent data, P=0.0008), with uveitis patients exhibiting significantly higher levels of TPO.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The high levels of TPO in the aqueous humors of uveitis patients points toward a cytoprotective role of this factor in inflammatory repair processes and the recovery of tissue homeostasis.
authors.affiliation: Ophthalmology Department, School of Medicine, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain ; Ophthalmology Department, Hospital General Universitario de Alicante, Alicante, Spain.
authors.forename: José-Juan
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Mondejar
authors.affiliation: Ophthalmology Department, School of Medicine, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain ; Ophthalmology Department, Hospital de Manises, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Salom
authors.affiliation: Ophthalmology Department, School of Medicine, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain ; Ophthalmology Department, Hospital Universitario La Fe, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Salvador
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Garcia-Delpech
authors.affiliation: Ophthalmology Department, School of Medicine, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Diaz-Llopis
keywords: TPO; acute anterior uveitis; aqueous humors; cytoprotective; serum; thrombopoietin