Machalińska Anna, Safranow Krzysztof, Mozolewska-Piotrowska Katarzyna, Dziedziejko Violetta, Karczewicz Danuta
Department of Ophthalmology, Pomeranian Medical University, Szczecin, Poland.
Klin Oczna. 2012;114(2):115-20.
The aim of the study is to explore the interaction between stimulators and inhibitors of angiogenesis by measuring pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plasma levels in patients with the wet and dry forms of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
Forty-six subjects with the wet form, 31 with the dry form of AMD as well as 47 non-AMD healthy controls were enrolled in the study. Plasma concentrations of VEGF and PEDF were measured using ELISA test.
A significant decrease in the PEDF plasma level in patients with the dry form of AMD was found. Multivariate analyses of patients and controls adjusted for age, sex, smoking, and concomitant vascular diseases as independent variables revealed that the dry form of AMD was the only independent factor associated with lower plasma PEDF levels (beta = -0.34; p = 0.026). On the contrary, in the wet AMD group, a strong positive correlation between VEGF and PEDF concentrations was observed (Rs = +0.63; p = 0.002), and significantly higher PEDF and VEGF plasma levels in patients with bilateral manifestations of the disease were also found.
These findings suggest that different manifestations of AMD, i.e. the dry and wet forms, may be associated with various altered concentrations of counterbalancing stimulators and inhibitors of the angiogenesis process.
本研究旨在通过测量湿性和干性年龄相关性黄斑变性（AMD）患者血浆中色素上皮衍生因子（PEDF）和血管内皮生长因子（VEGF）的水平，探讨血管生成刺激因子与抑制因子之间的相互作用。
本研究纳入了46例湿性AMD患者、31例干性AMD患者以及47例非AMD健康对照者。采用酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）法检测VEGF和PEDF的血浆浓度。
发现干性AMD患者的PEDF血浆水平显著降低。对患者和对照者进行多变量分析，将年龄、性别、吸烟和伴发的血管疾病作为自变量进行校正后发现，干性AMD是与血浆PEDF水平降低相关的唯一独立因素（β=-0.34；p=0.026）。相反，在湿性AMD组中，观察到VEGF和PEDF浓度之间存在强正相关（Rs=+0.63；p=0.002），并且还发现双侧病变患者的PEDF和VEGF血浆水平显著更高。
这些发现表明，AMD的不同表现形式，即干性和湿性，可能与血管生成过程中起平衡作用的刺激因子和抑制因子的不同浓度变化有关。
