{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,3]],"date-time":"2026-10-03T03:11:39Z","timestamp":1790997099150,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,19]],"date-time":"2021-05-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1621382400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Alimera Sciences","award":["590\/15"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["590\/15"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is an inflammatory condition that affects the posterior of the eye; yet, there are limited published data on techniques measuring the expression of growth and inflammatory factors (GIF) from the posterior segment. The purpose of the current study was two-fold: to sample the vitreous fluid from the eyes of patients with DR and assess the expression of GIF. As DR is an inflammatory disease, the second objective of this study was to determine the relationship between the status of DR and the expression of vitreous GIF. This non-randomized clinical trial was approved by BfARM for the analysis and evaluation of 12 eyes from patients with diabetic macular edema. Vitreous sampling was performed before treatment with fluocinolone acetonide and the extracted vitreous material was examined for the determination of GIF including interleukins 6 (IL-6) and 8 (IL-8), interferon gamma-inducible protein (IP-10), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), placental growth factor (PIGF), pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF), VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) and intercellular adhesion molecule (CD54). These were linearly compared with the grade of inflammation in the vitreous assessed via DR score and ART. Additionally, all eyes were grouped based on their diabetic retinopathy status. All cytokine levels, except MCP-1 and PEDF, were numerically higher in DME patients with proliferative DR than those with non-proliferative DR. DR grade was found to linearly correlate with the expression of CD54 (p = 0.02, rho = 0.64), IL-8 (p = 0.03, rho = 0.64) and PIGF (p = 0.007, rho = 0.76). A correlation was found between ART and CD54 (p = 0.02, rho = 0.66) and also between ART and IL-8 (p = 0.04, rho = 0.60). A trend was found between ART and PIGF (p = 0.08, rho 0.52). For IL-6, there appeared to be a trend with DR grade (p = 0.14, rho = 0.45) and ART (p = 0.09, rho = 0.51). Proliferative DR was shown to be associated with a significant higher expression of CD54, IL-8 and PIGF, thus suggesting that they are potentially important in defining and monitoring the effectiveness of a patients\u2019 therapy. Vitreous probes may be helpful in deciding which therapy to administer (i.e. anti-VEGF or corticosteroid or both) based on the expression of GIF.<\/jats:p>\n                  <jats:p>\n                    <jats:bold>Registry<\/jats:bold>\n                    EudraCT number:\n                    <jats:ext-link xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\" ext-link-type=\"uri\" xlink:href=\"https:\/\/www.clinicaltrialsregister.eu\/ctr-search\/search?query=2016-004488-38\" xlink:type=\"simple\">2016-004488-38<\/jats:ext-link>\n                    ; DRKS-ID: DRKS00014915.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0248439","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,19]],"date-time":"2021-05-19T13:38:27Z","timestamp":1621431507000},"page":"e0248439","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":18,"title":["Vitreous expression of cytokines and growth factors in patients with diabetic retinopathy\u2014An investigation of their expression based on clinical diabetic retinopathy grade"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2758-4910","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Svenja","family":"Deuchler","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ralf","family":"Schubert","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Pankaj","family":"Singh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Adonis","family":"Chedid","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Natallia","family":"Brui","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ninel","family":"Kenikstul","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6933-9585","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Thomas","family":"Kohnen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hanns","family":"Ackermann","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Frank","family":"Koch","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0248439.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"17","DOI":"10.1186\/s40662-015-0026-2","article-title":"Epidemiology of diabetic retinopathy, diabetic macular edema and related vision loss","volume":"2","author":"R Lee","year":"2015","journal-title":"Eye Vis (Lond)"},{"key":"pone.0248439.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"843","DOI":"10.3389\/fendo.2019.00843","article-title":"Diabetic Retinopathy-An Underdiagnosed and Undertreated Inflammatory, Neuro-Vascular Complication of Diabetes","volume":"10","author":"SH Sinclair","year":"2019","journal-title":"Front Endocrinol (Lausanne)."},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0248439.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0178230","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0178230","article-title":"Association between aqueous humor and vitreous fluid levels of Th17 cell-related cytokines in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy","volume":"12","author":"M Takeuchi","year":"2017","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0248439.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"424","DOI":"10.1111\/dme.13868","article-title":"The unmet need for better risk stratification of non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy","volume":"36","author":"S Sivaprasad","year":"2019","journal-title":"Diabet Med"},{"issue":"12","key":"pone.0248439.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1751","DOI":"10.4103\/ijo.IJO_1217_18","article-title":"Current management of diabetic tractional retinal detachments","volume":"66","author":"MW Stewart","year":"2018","journal-title":"Indian J Ophthalmol"},{"issue":"1\u20132","key":"pone.0248439.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"159","DOI":"10.1900\/RDS.2015.12.159","article-title":"Biomarkers in Diabetic Retinopathy","volume":"12","author":"AJ Jenkins","year":"2015","journal-title":"Rev Diabet Stud."},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0248439.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"218","DOI":"10.1034\/j.1600-0420.1999.770221.x","article-title":"Progression to proliferative retinopathy and macular oedema requiring treatment. 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