Purpose. To measure the concentrations of various cytokines in the aqueous humor from patients with different stages of\ndiabetic retinopathy. Methods. All selected cataract patients were categorized into 4 groups: the control group (patients\nwithout diabetes), nonretinopathy (NDR) group (diabetic patients without retinopathy), nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy\n(NPDR) group, and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) group. The aqueous concentrations of interleukin- (IL-) 1�², IL-2,\nIL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, interferon-�³, tumor necrosis factor-�±, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) from patients were\nmeasured using the cytometric bead array technique. Results. In this study, 10, 22, 15, and 14 patients were included in the\ncontrol, NDR, NPDR, and PDR groups, respectively. No difference was observed in the aqueous concentrations of all cytokines\nbetween the control group and the NDR group. By contrast, comparison of these groups revealed that the aqueous\nconcentrations of most inflammatory cytokines were significantly higher in the PDR and NPDR groups. In addition, the\nconcentrations of IL-2, IL-5, and VEGF were higher in the PDR group than those in the NPDR group. Conclusions. Aqueous\nconcentrations of various cytokines increased with the severity of patientsâ�� diabetic retinopathy. This finding implies that these\ncytokines might play a role in the progression of diabetic retinopathy.
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