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SummaryThis study determined the presence of interleukin 1 (IL-l), interleukin 6 (IL-6), tumour necrosis factor ex (TNFex), tumour necrosis factor � (TNF�), interferon y (IFNy), transforming growth factor �2 (TGF�2) and fibroblast proliferation activity (FPA) in vitreous aspirates from eyes undergoing vitrectomy for the treatment of ret inal detachment complicated by proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) or uncom plicated retinal detachment (RD). Cadaveric vitreous from normal subjects were used as controls. The results showed that IL-1 and IL-6 predominated in vitreous from eyes with PVR or RD, and that concentrations of IL-6 >20 pg/ml were more frequently found in PVR than in RD (p = 0.031) or control specimens (p = 0.006). Low levels of TNFex were observed in 4/18 eyes with PVR, 1/15 eyes with RD and 1/15 control vitreous, and small concentrations of TNFex were seen in 3/18 eyes with PVR, 1/15 eyes with RD and 2/15 control vitreous. IFNy was detected in 12/18 eyes with PVR, but only in 5/15 eyes with RD (p = 0.048) and 6/15 control specimens. TGF�2 was present in all vitreous samples at concentrations ranging from 100 to 4,500 pg/ml with no significant differences among the three groups. Control vitreous possessed the greatest FPA when compared with vitreous from eyes with PVR (p = 0.031) or RD (p = 0.048). These observations provide further evidence that cytokine mediated pathways of inflammation are involved in the pathogenesis of PVR and point to the possible involvement of IL-l, IL-6 and IFNy in cellular interactions lead ing to chronicity.

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The presence of interleukin 6 (IL-6), interleukin 1 (IL-1), interleukin 2 (IL-2) and tumour necrosis factor (TNF) was investigated in vitreous and aqueous aspirates from eyes undergoing vitrectomy for the treatment of different inflammatory conditions. Cadaveric vitreous from 10 normal subjects were used as controls. IL-6 was observed in 5 specimens from eyes with idiopathic uveitis (range = 26-264 pg/ml), in 2 specimens from eyes with uveitis complicated with retinal detachment (28 and 279 pg/ml, respectively), in 6 samples from eyes with diabetic retinopathy (range = 5-480 pg/ml), in one sample from an eye with phacolytic glaucoma (1190 pg/ml) and in one specimen from an eye with Behçet's disease (366 pg/ml). Although IL-1 was detected in 80% of all the samples investigated, concentrations of this cytokine greater than 3 pg/ml were only observed in 2 specimens from eyes with uveitis (5 and 20 pg/ml, respectively) and 2 samples from eyes with diabetic retinopathy (3 and 31 pg/ml, respectively). TNF was present in 3 specimens from eyes with uveitis (range = 2-24 pg/ml) and 1 sample from eyes with diabetic retinopathy (4 pg/ml), but was not detected in the eyes with phacolytic glaucoma or Behçet's disease. IL-2 (less than 0.1 U/ml) was detected in one sample from an eye with uveitis, one specimen from an eye with uveitis complicated with retinal detachment and 2 samples from eyes with diabetic retinopathy. None of the cytokines measured were detected in any of the control vitreous. The present observations suggest that cytokines, particularly IL-6 and IL-1, may act as local amplification signals in pathological processes associated with chronic eye inflammation.

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