THE RATIO OF NEUROTROPHIC FACTORS IN THE LACRIMAL FLUID AND AQUEOUS HUMOR IN PATIENTS WITH AGE-RELATED CATARACT

Abstract

Purpose. To study a possibility of evaluation of neurotrophic factors content in the aqueous humor (AH) based on a determination of their level in lacrimal fluid (LF) on the examples of ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in patients with age-related cataract.Material and methods. We studied the content of CNTF and BDNF in the LF, AH, and the blood serum (BS) in 55 patients (55 eyes) with agerelated cataract. Collection of stimulated LF was performed with a pipette on the day preceding surgery; the AH and BS were sampled during the phacoemulsification of a cataract. The CNTF and BDNF concentration was measured using an enzyme immunoassay.Results. After the exclusion of patients with outlying (>M+3σ) values for LF, AH or their ratios, the mean concentration of CNTF in patients was 38.6±17.6 pg/mL in the LF, 55.8±25.0 pg/mL in the AH, and 5.76±5.39 pg/mL in the BS, the concentrations ratio AH / LF was 1.50±0.51. The mean concentration of BDNF in patients was 120.8±42.8 pg/mL in the LF, 49.3±20.8 pg/mL in the AH, and 22270±7040 pg/mL in the BS, the concentrations ratio AH / LF was 0.41±0.13. The concentration of each neurotrophic factor in the AH was correlated with its content in the LF. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was 0.68 (P<0.000) for CNTF and 0.66 (P<0.000) for BDNF. Conclusion. Significant correlations found between AH and LF levels for both CNTF and BDNF confirm the possibility to use the LF concentration of these neurotrophic factors for an approximate evaluation of their levels in the AH.

Keywords

• ciliary neurotrophic factor
• brain-derived neurotrophic factor
• lacrimal fluid
• aqueous humor
• blood serum
• age-related cataract