SERUM LEVELS OF VASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL GROWTH FACTOR BEFORE AND AFTER INTRAVITREAL INJECTION OF RANIBIZUMAB OR CONBERCEPT FOR NEOVASCULAR AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) before and after intravitreal injection of conbercept or ranibizumab for neovascular age-related macular degeneration and polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy patients.


METHODS
This study is a prospective, interventional case series and involved 28 patients, 18 treated with 0.5 mg of conbercept and 10 treated with 0.5 mg of ranibizumab. Serum concentrations of VEGF were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay before the injection and at 1 day, 1 week, and 1 month after anti-VEGF treatments.


RESULTS
The baseline serum VEGF level of the ranibizumab group was 367.11 ± 311.87 pg/mL, whereas that of the conbercept group was 315.06 ± 170.88 pg/mL (P = 0.653). In the conbercept group, VEGF level significantly decreased to 36.32 ± 72.11 pg/mL at 1 day (P = 0.03) and returned to 136.55 ± 144.62 pg/mL at 1 week (P = 0.03). At 1 month, the concentration increased to 334.48 ± 197.41 pg/mL and showed no significant difference compared with the baseline. In the ranibizumab group, the serum VEGF levels were 292.42 ± 239.80 pg/mL, 282.60 ± 201.36 pg/mL, and 308.83 ± 266.89 pg/mL at 1 day, 1 week, and 1 month after intravitreal injection, respectively. There was no significant difference in the ranibizumab group at each detection time point (P = 0.45).


CONCLUSIONS
Conbercept significantly decreased serum VEGF level 1 day and 1 week after injection, but this effect was not sustained for 1 month. In contrast, ranibizumab had no significant effect on serum VEGF concentration changes. The reduction in serum VEGF by conbercept may affect its systemic safety profile.
*Key Laboratory of Vision Loss and Restoration, Ministry of Education, Beijing Key Laboratory of Diagnosis and Therapy of Retinal and Choroid Diseases, Department of Ophthalmology, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing, PR China; and †Department of Ophthalmology, The 306th Hospital of PLA, Beijing, PR China.
Enzhong
E
Jin
Yujing
Y
Bai
Ling
L
Luo
Lvzhen
L
Huang
Xuemei
X
Zhu
Xue
X
Ding
Huijun
H
Qi
Mingwei
M
Zhao
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D020256:Choroidal Neovascularization / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D058449:Intravitreal Injections; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D000069579:Ranibizumab / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000097:blood*; D057135:Wet Macular Degeneration / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy*
D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; C527363:KH902 fusion protein; D000069579:Ranibizumab