Vitreous levels of soluble vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR)-1 in eyes with vitreoretinal diseases

Background/aims To determine the vitreous levels of soluble vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (sVEGFR)-1 in patients with various vitreoretinal diseases, and to investigate its correlation with patients' age and the activity of proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). Methods Vitreous fluid samples were obtained from 187 eyes of 170 patients who underwent vitrectomy for the treatment of idiopathic macular hole (MH, n=30), branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO, n=37), central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO, n=27), diabetic macular oedema (DME, n=42) and PDR (n=51). The levels of sVEGFR-1 in the vitreous were measured by ELISA. Results The levels of sVEGFR-1 (pg/ml) were not significantly different among each disease examined (MH 3900.1+/-1188.9, BRVO 3969.7+/-1741.6, CRVO 4897.7+/-1717.7, DME 3856.21+/-1374.7, PDR 4212.3+/-1474.9). There was a significant positive correlation between vitreous concentrations of sVEGFR-1 and patients' age (r=0.430, p<0.01). The sVEGFR-1 concentration in subjects with active PDR was significantly lower than in those with quiescent PDR (p<0.0001), even after being adjusted for age (p<0.0001). Conclusions Vitreous concentrations of sVEGFR-1 increase with advancing age and are associated with quiescent rather than active PDR even after adjustment for age.