Aqueous humor pentraxin-3 levels in patients with diabetes mellitus

Abstract

PurposeTo evaluate aqueous humor (AH) pentraxin-3 (PTX3) levels in diabetic patients with and without diabetic retinopathy (DR).MethodsIn this prospective study, patients undergoing cataract surgery were enrolled. The study group was composed of 26 type-2 diabetic patients without DR (group 1), 32 diabetic patients with DR (group 2) and 29 age-matched subjects without any systemic disease (group 3). Fifteen proliferative DR (PDR) and 17 non-proliferative DR (NPDR) patients were enrolled in Group 2. HbA1c levels and duration of diabetes were noted. AH samples were obtained from anterior chamber at the beginning of cataract surgery and PTX3 levels were analyzed with Elisa kit.ResultsBaseline demographic characteristics were similar between groups. The mean duration of diabetes was 11.9±7.9 years in group 1 and 15.8±7.8 years in group 2 (P=0.11). The mean plasma HbA1c levels in group 1 was 9.1±2.6 and 8.2±2.4 in group 2 (P=0.36). PTX3 levels were 5.75±0.41 in group 1, 6.11±1.47 in group 2 and 4.93±0.84 ng/ml in group 3 (P=0.01). PTX3 levels in group 2 were higher than in group 1 and 3 (P=0.06 and P=0.01, respectively). There was no correlation between HbA1c and PTX3 levels (P=0.06 r=0.57, P=0.19 r=0.3, respectively). The mean PTX3 was 6.6±0.3 in PDR group and 5.6±0.5 ng/ml in NPDR group (P=0.04).ConclusionsPTX3 is an important marker especially for vascular endothelial damage. Since diabetic vascular changes are dependent on endothelial cell damage, high levels of AH PTX3 of DR patients may indicate the importance of PTX3 protein in the pathogenesis of DR.

The Long Pentraxin PTX3 as a New Biomarker and Pharmacological Target in Age-Related Macular Degeneration and Diabetic Retinopathy

“…We propose that PTX3 is involved in the local rather than systemic inflammatory reaction to hyperglycemia. Our view is supported by a study reporting higher levels of the protein in the aqueous humor of patients with DR than in that of diabetics with no retinopathy or non-diabetic volunteers (Mutlu et al, 2017). This suggests that the diabetic damage to the retinal endothelium is perhaps more evident in adjacent tissues (like the vitreous) than is in the blood, where any PTX3 contribution from the retinal tissue is likely to be highly diluted.…”

“…This suggests that the diabetic damage to the retinal endothelium is perhaps more evident in adjacent tissues (like the vitreous) than is in the blood, where any PTX3 contribution from the retinal tissue is likely to be highly diluted. In line with this, no correlation has been found between serum hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and vitreous PTX3 levels (Mutlu et al, 2017).…”

A meta-analysis of genome-wide gene expression differences identifies promising targets for type 2 diabetes mellitus

“…The complications of diabetes mellitus are the major obstacles in its treatment including both microvascular and macrovascular complications. Recently, in one study, PTX3 has been shown to be an accurate marker in revealing diabetic neuropathic progression ( 28 , 29 ). The involvement of PTX3 in diabetic complications serves to be an attractive target.…”

Novel neutrophil subsets associated with sepsis, vascular dysfunction and metabolic alterations identified using systems immunology

“…PTX3 is an acute-phase protein known to increase rapidly in a variety of inflammatory diseases: it recognizes microbial moieties, activates the classical pathway of complement, and facilitates recognition by macrophages and dendritic cells 84,85 . In recent years PTX3 was described to have a profound effect on the endothelium and induce vascular dysfunction 86-88 and levels of PTX3 have been shown to predict and correlate with severity of disease and mortality in sepsis 89-91 .…”