Scientific Reports (Sep 2023)

Correlation between tear levels of vascular endothelial growth factor and vitamin D at retinopathy of prematurity stages in preterm infants

  • Ponnalagu Murugeswari,
  • Anand Vinekar,
  • S. Grace Prakalapakorn,
  • Venkata Ramana Anandula,
  • Murali Subramani,
  • Tanuja Arun Vaidya,
  • Archana Padmanabhan Nair,
  • Chaitra Jayadev,
  • Arkasubhra Ghosh,
  • Govindasamy Kumaramanickavel,
  • Rohit Shetty,
  • Debashish Das

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-43338-w
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13, no. 1
pp. 1 – 11

Abstract

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Abstract Deregulation of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels leads to retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Vitamin D (VIT-D) is known to regulate VEGF in an oxygen dependent manner. The purpose of this study was to correlate tear levels of VEGF and VIT-D with different ROP stages in preterm infants. In this prospective cross-sectional study, we enrolled 104 pre-term infants. They were grouped into: Group-1 (Classical ROP) and Group-2 (Aggressive ROP), which were further subdivided into Group-1A (progressing), Group-1B (regressing), Group-2A (pre-treatment), and Group-2B (post-treatment). Tear VEGF and VIT-D levels and their association with different ROP stages were assessed. Stage 1 and stage 2 had higher whereas stage 3 had lower VEGF levels in Group-1B compared to Group-1A. Stage 1 and stage 3 showed higher levels of VIT-D with no difference in stage 2 in Group-1B compared to Group-1A., Group-2B showed higher VEGF and lower VIT-D levels compared to Group-2A. Presence of a positive correlation at an early stage (stage 1) of ROP and a negative correlation at a more advanced stage (stage 3) of ROP with VIT-D and VEGF implies stage-specific distinct signaling crosstalk. These findings suggest that VIT-D supplementation may have the potential to modify the course and outcome of ROP.