There are many types of fundus diseases and their causes are complex. They can be caused by metabolic factors or inflammatory factors. Fundus examination and imaging examination tools are the main methods for diagnosing fundus diseases. However, in terms of determining the cause and early diagnosis, if the intraocular fluid detection technology can be reasonably combined, the advantages will be greater. Intraocular fluid is the general term for fluid in the eyeball, including aqueous humor, vitreous humor, etc. The molecular components that can be tested include DNA, RNA, antigens, antibodies, and cytokines. With the advancement of molecular testing technology and equipment, intraocular fluid testing as an evidence-based method has gradually been incorporated into the consensus and guidelines of more fundus disease experts, and is mainly used for infectious fundus diseases and camouflage syndromes. Reasonable use of intraocular fluid testing can help improve the personalized diagnosis and treatment of fundus diseases and reduce unnecessary drug overuse. However, it is worth noting that intraocular fluid detection is only one of many tools and cannot replace other examinations and clinical experience. Excessive intraocular fluid testing not only increases the risk of clinical infections because of invasiveness, but also increases the burden on patients.
The fundus lesions caused by high myopia (HM) often lead to irreversible visual impairment or even blindness. However, the pathogenesis of HM and its fundus lesions is still unclear, the intraocular fluid detection technology of micro samples has brought new prospects for the early diagnosis, monitoring and intervention of the fundus lesions. The molecules associated with HM are various and functionally diverse, intermolecular interactions are staggered and the specific mechanism is complex. With the development of intraocular fluid detection technology, while gradually revealing the role of each molecule in the pathogenesis of HM, it is expected to successfully assist clinical work in the future, providing outpost markers for the progress of myopia and targets for early intervention, or providing a new therapy choice for HM fundus lesions at the molecular level targeting pathogenesis, which is expected to provide more accurate and effective treatment for HM patients in the future.
Objective To detect the changes of function of blood-aqueous barrier in different Syndrome stages of patients with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) syndrome in order to provide the appropriate therapy. Methods According to clinical manifestation, 77 patients (144 eyes) with VKH syndrome were divided into 4 groups: 10 cases in posterior uvietis stage group (20 eyes), 27 in anterior uveal involvement stage group (50 eyes), 23 in recurrent anterior uvitis stage group (41 eyes), and 17 in convalescent stage group (33 eyes). The other 50 cases (100 eyes) were in the control group. Flare and cells of anterior chamber in patient with VKH Syndrome at different stages were graded and measured by laser flare and cell meter (LFCM) and slitlamp microscope. Results According to the results of slitlamp biomicroscopy, anterior chamber flare and cells were at the 0 grade in the patients at posterior uvietis stage (20 eyes). The results of LFCM examination revealed that the flare value and cells were (9.7±3.4) pc/ms and (0.9±0.6)/0.5 mm3 in posterior uvietis stage group, and (5.3±2.3) pc/ms and (0.8±0.6)/0.5 mm3 in the control group. The differences between the two groups were significant (Plt;0.001) and insignificant (P=0.899), respectively. In anterior uveal involvement stage group, the cells in anterior chamber was at grade 1+ in 25 eyes, 2+ in 19, and 3+ in 6, respectively, while the flare was at grade 1+in 27 eyes and 2+ in 23; the number of cells in anterior chamber was (13.7±6.5)/0.5 mm3，(40.8±17.6)/0.5 mm3, and (75.7±25.5)/ 0.5 mm3 respectively, and the value of flare was (31.4±12.8) pc/ms and (133.4±59.5) pc/ms. In recurrent anterior uvitis stage group, the cells in anterior chamber was at grade 1+ in 19 eyes, 2+ in 15, and 3+ in 7, respectively, while the flare was at grade 1+ in 24 eyes and 2+ in 17; the number of cells in anterior chamber was (11.2±5.4)/0.5 mm3，(29.6±14.4 )/0.5 mm3,and (69.3±22.2)/0.5 mm3, respectively, and the value of flare was (34.94±14.3) pc/ms and (150.9±83.3) pc/ms. The flare and cells in anterior chamber both in anterior uveal involvement stage and recurrent anterior uvitis stage group were higher than that in the control group (Plt;0.001). In convalescent stage group, the cells was at grade 0 in 33 eyes and the flare was at grade 0 in 15 eyes and 1+ in 18; while the number of cells was (1.0±0.7)/0.5 mm3 which was insignificantly differed from that in the control group (P=0.310), and the value of flare was (9.5±4.8) pc/ms and (30.0±12.3) pc/ms which were both higher than that in the control group (Plt;0.001). Conclusions The breakdown of blood-aqueous barrier with different degrees occurs at each stage in VKH syndrome, whereas inflammatory cells appearing in anterior chamber are only noted at some certain stages. This is very significant to offer directional and effective treatment to the patients with VKH syndrome. (Chin J Ocul Fundus Dis, 2005, 21: 363-366)
ObjectiveTo analyze the sensitivity and specificity of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests in the detection of cytomegalovirus (CMV) in the diagnosis of patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), using aqueous humor samples. Methods25 AIDS patients (including 21 men and 4 women) were studied. The age of the patients varied from 24 to 59 years, with an average of (39.2±9.3) years. The CD4+ T cell count was from 1 to 523 cells/μl, with a medium of 40 cells/μl. They were infected with human immunodeficiency virus(HIV)for a period from 15 days to 9 years with a median of 10 months. They were divided into three groups according to the fundus and treatment, including untreated cytomegalovirus retinitis (CMVR), treated CMVR and control group. There were 10 patients without anti-CMV treatment and 7 patients treated previously with foscarnet or ganciclovir whose eyes were diagnosed CMVR. Control group has 8 patients who had normal fundus or minor retinopathy excluded from CMVR. Approximately 100 μl of aqueous humor was obtained by anterior-chamber paracentesis and PCR was performed in all cases. ResultsThere were CMV DNA in 9 of 10 eyes with untreated CMVR (90.0% sensitivity). Of 7 specimens from eyes with treated CMVR, 3 were CMV PCR positive (42.9% sensitivity). All 8 samples of the control group were negative for CMV DNA, indicating the clinical specificity of our PCR was greater than 99.9% for CMVR. The anterior chamber paracentesis did not cause any complications in our patients except for a patient with subconjunctival hemorrhage. ConclusionsThe assay had an estimated sensitivity of 90.0% in detecting untreated CMVR and a sensitivity of 42.9% in detecting CMVR that had been treated. The specificity of this assay was greater than 99.9%.
ObjectiveTo study the changes and correlation of cytokines in aqueous humor before and after intravitreal injection of conbercept (IVC) treatment in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR).MethodsA prospective clinical study. From March to December 2019, 36 patients (42 eyes) of PDR patients treated with IVC combined with pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) (the observation group) and 27 patients (31 eyes) underwent cataract surgery in the same period (control group) in Department of Ophthalmology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine were included in this study. Before PPV 5-7 days, IVC treatment was performed, and the aqueous humor were extracted during IVC and second-stage PPV in the observation group. The aqueous humor was extracted during cataract surgery in the control group. Luminex assay was used to detect VEGF-A, placental growth factor (PLGF), platelet-derived growth factor-AA (PDGF-AA), platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB), angiopoietin-like protein 4 (ANGPTL4), IL-6, IL-8, IL-1β, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) cytokine expression. For normally distributed data, the independent sample t test was used for comparison between two independent samples; for non-normally distributed data, the Wilcoxon rank sum test was used for comparison between two independent samples. The correlation analysis used Spearman rank correlation test.ResultsBefore IVC treatment, the concentrations of VEGF-A, PLGF, PDGF-AA, ANGPTL4, IL-6, IL-8, MCP-1 and ICAM-1 in the aqueous humor of PDR patients were significantly higher than those in the control group (P＜0.05). After IVC treatment, the concentration of VEGF-A in the aqueous humor was significantly lower than that before treatment, and the concentrations of ANGPTL4 and IL-8 were significantly higher than those before treatment (P＜0.05). There were no significant differences in the concentrations of PLGF, PDGF-AA, PDGF-BB, IL-6, IL-1β, MCP-1, ICAM-1 and TNF-α before and after IVC treatment (P＞0.05). Before IVC treatment, the concentration of VEGF-A was positively correlated with PLGF, PDGF-AA, PDGF-BB, ANGPTL4, IL-6, IL-8, MCP-1 and TNF-α (P＜0.05).ConclusionsIVC treatment can reduce the concentration of VEGF-A and increase the concentrations of ANGPTL4 and IL-8 in aqueous humor in PDR patients before PPV.
ObjectiveTo compare the clinical manifestations of ocular toxoplasmosis (OT) in adult and children, and to preliminarily explore the role of intraocular fluid detection in the early diagnosis of OT.MethodsA retrospective study. From January 2018 to October 2019, 60 cases of OT patients with 60 eyes diagnosed in the Department of Ophthalmology of Beijing Chaoyang Hospital Affiliated of Capital Medical University were included in the study. The medical history information of patients was collected in parallel with slit-lamp microscopy, indirect ophthalmoscope examination, and canine toxoplasma antibody detection in aqueous or vitreous fluid. Fifty-eight cases underwent visual inspection; 2 cases did not underwent visual inspection, who were children. The visual acuity examination was carried out using the new version of the standard logarithmic visual acuity chart, which was converted into the logarithmic minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) visual acuity during statistics. According to age, the patients were divided into adult group and child group, with 12 eyes in 12 cases and 48 eyes in 48 cases, respectively. The clinical characteristics and main points of diagnosis and treatment of the two groups of patients were compared and observed. The comparison among the measurement data groups conforming and the normal distribution was performed by the independent t test. The comparison between the measurement data groups of the skewed distribution was performed by the Kruskal-Wallis test. The qualitative data were compared with χ2 test.ResultsAmong the adult group and the child group, 7 (58.3%, 7/12) and 34 (70.8%, 34/48) patients with a clear history of contact with dogs and cats were in the adult group and the child group, respectively. The adult group was significantly lower than the child group, however, there was no different statistical significance (χ2=0.236, P=0.627). At the first visit, the self-reported blurred vision of the adult group and the child group was 10 (83.3%, 10/12) and 22 (45.8%, 22/48) cases, respectively. In the adult group and the child group, 3 (25.0%, 3/12) and 20 (43.5%, 20/46) eyes with logMAR visual acuity greater than 1.85, 8 (66.7%, 8/12) and 22 (45.8%, 22/46) eyes with logMAR visual acuity less than 0.3. The visual acuity of the adult group was better than that of the child group, and the difference was statistically significant (Z=2.162, P=0.031). There was no statistically significant difference in the composition ratio of different clinical types of the two groups of eyes (χ2=1.908, P=0.385). The incidence of inflammation in the anterior segment of the eye in the adult group and the child group were 25.0% (3/12) and 56.3% (27/48), respectively; there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups (χ2=3.750, P=0.053). The concentration of antibodies in the vitreous humor of the affected eye in the adult group and the child group was greater than that of aqueous humor. The antibody concentrations of vitreous humor and aqueous humor were 36.51 (22.58) and 19.94 (21.78) U/ml in the children group; 45.95 (56.44) and 32.20 (38.64) U/ml in the adult group. Comparison of antibody concentrations in the vitreous humor and aqueous humor of the affected eyes in the child group showed statistically significant differences (Z=?1.984, P=0.047).ConclusionsCompared with children with OT, adult patients with OT have better vision and mild inflammation or hyperplasia of the vitreous cavity. The detection of antibodies related to toxoplasma in the intraocular fluid is helpful for early diagnosis.