TNFα and IL-8 vitreous concentrations variations with two antidiabetic therapies in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy: an observational study

• Published in: BMC ophthalmology Vol. 24; no. 1; pp. 399 - 7
• Main Authors: Morales-Lopez, Oscar, Rodríguez-Cortés, Octavio, López-Sánchez, Pedro, Pérez-Cano, Héctor Javier, García-Liévanos, Omar, Lima-Gómez, Virgilio, Somilleda-Ventura, Selma Alin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central 09-09-2024; BMC
• Subjects: Aged; Antidiabetic therapy; Antidiabetics; Cross-Sectional Studies; Cytokines; Diabetes; Diabetes mellitus (non-insulin dependent); Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - complications; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - drug therapy; Diabetic retinopathy; Diabetic Retinopathy - drug therapy; Diabetic Retinopathy - metabolism; Drug development; Drug Therapy, Combination; Drugs; Female; Glibenclamide; Glucose; Glyburide - therapeutic use; Hemorrhage; Humans; Hyperglycemia; Hypoglycemic Agents - therapeutic use; Inflammation; Inflammatory response; Insulin; Insulin - therapeutic use; Interleukin 8; Interleukin-8 - metabolism; Interleukins; Male; Metformin; Metformin - therapeutic use; Microenvironments; Middle Aged; Retina; Retinal detachment; Retinopathy; Retrospective Studies; Statistical analysis; Statistics; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha - metabolism; Tumor necrosis factor-α; Vitreous Body - metabolism; Vitreous humor; United States > US; Diabetic retinopathy; Inflammatory response; Antidiabetic therapy; Metformin; Interleukins; Insulin
• ISSN: 1471-2415; 1471-2415
• DOI: 10.1186/s12886-024-03659-4

Antidiabetic therapies are effective, but could indirectly modify the inflammatory response in the ocular microenvironment; therefore, a study was developed to evaluate the inflammatory cytokine profile in the vitreous humor of diabetic patients with retinopathy under treatment with antidiabetic drugs.
Observational, comparative, retrospective, cross-sectional study. Interleukins 1β, 6, 8, 10, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα) were evaluated in the vitreous humor obtained from patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, proliferative diabetic retinopathy, and concomitant retinal detachment or vitreous hemorrhage, and who were already on antidiabetic treatment with insulin or metformin + glibenclamide. The quantification analysis of each cytokine was performed by the cytometric bead array (CBA) technique; medians and interquartile ranges were obtained, and the results were compared between groups using the Mann-Whitney U test, where a p-value < 0.05 was considered significant.
Thirty-eight samples; quantification of TNFα concentrations was higher in the group of patients administered insulin, while interleukin-8 was lower; in the metformin + glibenclamide combination therapy group, it occurred inversely. In the stratified analysis, the highest concentrations of interleukin-8 and TNFα occurred in patients with vitreous hemorrhage; however, the only statistical difference existed in patients with retinal detachment, whose TNFα concentration in the combined therapy group was the lowest value found (53.50 (33.03-86.66), p = 0.03). Interleukins 1β, 6, and 10 were not detected.
Interleukin-8 and TNFα concentrations are opposite between treatment groups; this change is more accentuated in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy and vitreous hemorrhage, where the highest concentrations of both cytokines are found, although only TNFα have statistical difference.