The expression of vascular endothelial growth factor in pterygium tissue of atopic patients

Abstract

The exact pathogenesis of pterygium has not been completely elucidated. Growth factors have been considered to play a role in pterygium formation. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is one of the principal mediators of angiogenesis, fibroblast stimulation and tissue remodeling in allergic conditions. The aim of this study was to compare the association between pterygium and VEGF gene expression between atopic and non-atopic individuals. At first visit, all patients with pterygium underwent blood tests, serum immunoglobulin E (IgE), serum cytokines including interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and peripheral blood eosinophil count. After obtaining informed consents, questionnaires were used to obtain demographic and clinical data from patients who underwent pterygium excision surgery. Skin prick test was performed to confirm or rule out atopy in 30 patients with (case group) and 30 patients without (control group) atopy. Pterygium tissues were then removed by surgery. A semi-quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction was performed to determine VEGF gene expression in all patients. Our results illustrated that VEGF mRNA expression in atopic patients was significantly higher than in the non-atopic group (P = 0.01). Eosinophil count, serum IgE and IL-4 were also significantly higher in atopic patients than in the non-atopic group (P = 0.03, 0.001 and 0.001, respectively). However, no significant difference was noted in serum IFN-γ between the two groups (P = 0.06). The excessive expression of VEGF gene in pterygium tissue of patients with atopy suggests that growth factors may play a role in the pathogenesis of pterygium or accelerate its formation.

Mechanisms of Dihydroartemisinin and Dihydroartemisinin/Holotransferrin Cytotoxicity in T-Cell Lymphoma Cells

“…RNA was reverse transcribed using the Prime Script™ RT reagent kit (Perfect Real Time; TaKaRa, Tokyo, Japan) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. cDNA was then amplified by RT-PCR using the primers TfR: 5ʹ-TCTGACACGTCTGCCTACCCATTCG-3ʹ (forward) and 5ʹ-TATGATGGTTCACTCACGGAGCTTCG-3ʹ (reverse) [ 22 ]; VEGF: 5ʹ-ATGACGAGGGCCTGGAGTGTG-3ʹ (forward) and 5ʹ-CCTATGTGCTGGCCTTGGTGAG-3ʹ (reverse) [ 23 ]; and GAPDH: 5ʹ-AGAAGGCTGGGGCTCATTTG-3ʹ (forward) and 5ʹ-AGGGGCCATCCACAGTCTTC-3ʹ (reverse). Primers were synthesized by Sangon Biotech (Shanghai, China).…”

Proliferative Effects of Histamine on Primary Human Pterygium Fibroblasts

“…Although pterygium is a benign disease, it is also considered to be a neoplastic-like disorder with its uncontrolled proliferation, migration, angiogenesis, and recurrence [1]. It has been identified that the expression of genes associated with cell proliferation and angiogenesis, such as PCNA, mutant p53, MAP kinase signaling pathway, matrix metalloproteinases, and VEGFA, is higher in the pterygium than normal conjunctiva tissues [2–6]. Such properties make pterygium similar to a tumor in some ways.…”

Evaluation of the expression of T helper lymphocytes markers associated with Th1, Th2, Th17, and Treg cells in primary pterygium biopsies

“…Algunos estudios sugieren que IL-13 es la citocina Th2 predominante en la superficie ocular normal, razón por la cual encontramos una expresión basal en los tejidos que puede modificarse al aumentar el grado de extensión de Pt 14 . Por otro lado, se ha descrito en biopsias de Pt obtenidas de pacientes atópicos y no atópicos un aumento significativo en la expresión de IL-4 y una disminución evidente de IFN-γ, lo que concuerda con los resultados observados en nuestras muestras 15 . Es importante enfatizar que, a pesar de que la expresión de IFN-γ se encuentra muy disminuida en todos los grados de extensión del Pt, podemos observar que, en las biopsias correspondientes a los grados I, III y IV, la expresión del factor transcripcional Th1 (T-bet) se encuentra aumentada, lo que sugiere que en el microambiente del Pt existe el estímulo principal de la diferenciación Th1 (IL-12), pero no en la cantidad suficiente para inducir la polarización 3,16 .…”