Anti-VEGF Treatment Changes Aqueous Cytokine Levels in Patients With DME

As part of a recent analysis, researchers assessed the effects of intravitreal injection of antivascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in patients with diabetic macular edema (DME).

Study data was sourced from eligible trials indexed in PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library through May 2022 that evaluated the alterations of different aqueous humor cytokine concentrations after intravitreal anti-VEGF treatment. Included study estimates were then meta-analyzed by the Hartung-Knapp/Sidik-Jonkman random-effects method and Egger’s regression test for account for publication bias. Researchers calculated a 95% confidence interval across all studies and used STATA Version 15 software for the analysis.  

A total of 209 eyes across 9 eligible studies were identified and included in the systematic review.

Per the findings, the mean differences between 1- and 2-month changes of VEGF were 110.681 pg/ml (P < .001) and 283.474 pg/ml (P = .003), respectively. A -24.784 pg/ml (P = .037) mean difference in 2-month changes was observed for interleukin 6 (IL-6). The mean difference in 3-months of changes for central macular thickness was 130.372 μm (P < .001).

“Intravitreal injection of anti-VEGF exerts a protective effect on macular edema secondary to diabetic retinopathy by affecting various cytokine concentrations,” concluded authors, “especially reducing aqueous VEGF concentrations and IL-6 in patients with DME.”

Reference:
Wang A, Wang H. The change of aqueous humor cytokine levels after anti-VEGF in diabetic macular edema: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. Published online September 15, 2022. doi:10.1155/2022/9779951