Hepatocyte Growth Factor in Vitreous Fluid of Patients With Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy and Other Retinal Disorders

Yoshiya Katsura; Tadashi Okano; Masayuki Noritake; Hiroshi Kosano; Hideo Nishigori; Seijiro Kado; Takeshi Matsuoka

doi:10.2337/diacare.21.10.1759

Original Articles

Hepatocyte Growth Factor in Vitreous Fluid of Patients With Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy and Other Retinal Disorders

Yoshiya Katsura, MD,
Tadashi Okano, MD,
Masayuki Noritake, MD,
Hiroshi Kosano, PHD,
Hideo Nishigori, PHD,
Seijiro Kado, MD and
Takeshi Matsuoka, MD

Department of Internal Medicine, Tokyo Medical College Ibaraki
Department of Ophthalmology at Kasumigaura Hospital, Tokyo Medical College Ibaraki
Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Teikyo University Kanagawa, Japan

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Yoshiya Katsura, MD, 3-20-1, Tokyo Medical College, Kasumigaura Hospital, Chuuou, Ami-cho, Inashiki-gun, Ibaraki 300-0332, Japan. E-mail: y-katsu{at}tokyo-med.ac.jp

Diabetes Care 1998 Oct; 21(10): 1759-1763. https://doi.org/10.2337/diacare.21.10.1759

Abstract

OBJECTIVE To determine whether hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is elevated in the vitreous fluid of patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR).

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Vitreous fluid samples were obtained at the time of vitreoretinal surgery from 73 eyes of PDR patients and from 17 eyes of nondiabetic patients (control subjects) who had macular hole, rhegmatogenous retinal detachment, or epiretinal membrane (9, 4, and 4 eyes, respectively) but no associated proliferative vitreoretinopathy. Stages of PDR were classified as active or quiescent. Concentrations of HGF and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in vitreous fluid were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

RESULTS Intravitreous concentrations of HGF (median [range]) were significantly higher in diabetic patients with PDR (6.00 ng/ml [0.75−22.2]) than in control patients (2.86 ng/ml [0.75−5.80]). Intravitreous concentrations of VEGF were also higher in diabetic patients with PDR (1.62 ng/ml [0.15−7.9]) than in control patients (0.16 ng/ml [0.16−0.29]). Both VEGF and HGF concentrations were significantly higher in patients with active retinopathy than in those with quiescent retinopathy. However, vitreous concentrations of HGF were unrelated to those of VEGF

CONCLUSIONS We found that levels of HGF in vitreous fluid of PDR patients are significantly higher than in nondiabetic patients and that the levels of HGF are elevated in the active PDR stage. This suggests that HGF stimulates or perpetuates neovascularization in PDR.