title: Effects of intravitreal ranibizumab on the untreated eye and systemic gene expression profile in age-related macular degeneration.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the systemic effects of intravitreal ranibizumab (Lucentis) treatment in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The impact of intravitreal ranibizumab injections on central retinal thickness (CRT) of treated and contralateral untreated eyes, and differences in gene expression patterns in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells were analyzed. The study included 29 patients aged 50 years old and over with diagnosed neovascular AMD. The treatment was defined as 0.5 mg of ranibizumab injected intravitreally in the form of one injection every month during the period of 3 months. CRT was measured by optical coherence tomography. The gene expression profile was assigned using oligonucleotide microarrays of Affymetrix HG-U133A. Studies have shown that there was a change of CRT between treated and untreated eyes, and there were differences in CRT at baseline and after 1, 2, and 3 months of ranibizumab treatment. Three months after intravitreal injection, mean CRT was reduced in the treated eyes from 331.97±123.62 to 254.31±58.75 μm, while mean CRT in the untreated fellow eyes reduced from 251.07±40.29 to 235.45±36.21 μm at the same time. Furthermore, the research has shown that among all transcripts, 3,097 expresses change after the ranibizumab treatment in relation to controls. Among these transcripts, 1,339 were up-regulated, whereas 1,758 were down-regulated. Our results show the potential systemic effects of anti-VEGF therapy for AMD. Moreover, our study indicated different gene expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells before and after intravitreal ranibizumab treatment.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Department of Ophthalmology, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland; University Center for Ophthalmology and Oncology, Independent Public Clinical Hospital, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland.
authors.forename: Katarzyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Michalska-Małecka
authors.affiliation: University Center for Ophthalmology and Oncology, Independent Public Clinical Hospital, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland.
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kabiesz
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, School of Pharmacy with the Division of Laboratory Medicine in Sosnowiec, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland.
authors.forename: Malgorzata W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Kimsa
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, School of Pharmacy with the Division of Laboratory Medicine in Sosnowiec, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Strzałka-Mrozik
authors.affiliation: University Center for Ophthalmology and Oncology, Independent Public Clinical Hospital, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland; Clinical Department of Children Ophthalmology, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Formińska-Kapuścik
authors.affiliation: Domestic and Specialized Medicine Centre "Dilmed", Katowice, Poland.
authors.forename: Malgorzata
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nita
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, School of Pharmacy with the Division of Laboratory Medicine in Sosnowiec, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland.
authors.forename: Urszula
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Mazurek
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000068258:Bevacizumab / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D058449:Intravitreal Injections; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011044:Poland; D000069579:Ranibizumab / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D012160:Retina / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D059467:Transcriptome; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000187:drug effects; D057135:Wet Macular Degeneration / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors; D000068258:Bevacizumab; D000069579:Ranibizumab
keywords: central retinal thickness; contralateral eye; oligonucleotide microarray; ranibizumab