Proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) is a vision-threatening complication of diabetes mellitus (DM). Anterior chamber (AC) flare and intraocular cytokines are potent biomarkers reflecting the intraocular immune status in PDR. This study aimed to elucidate the complex interrelationship between AC flare and intraocular cytokines in PDR eyes. A retrospective observational study was conducted on 19 PDR eyes of 19 patients with type 2 DM, and on 19 eyes of 19 patients with idiopathic macular hole or epiretinal membrane as controls. AC flare was measured before pars plana vitrectomy (PPV). Aqueous humor (AH) and vitreous fluid (VF) samples were collected at the time of PPV, and the quantities of 27 cytokines in both intraocular fluids were analyzed. In the PDR and control groups, Spearman's rank correlation analysis revealed a positive correlation between AC flare and IL-8 level in both AH and VF. Additionally, IL-8 levels in AH correlated positively with IL-8 levels in VF. In the PDR group, receiver operating characteristic curve analysis identified IL-8 level in AH as a significant predictor for both diabetic macular edema (DME) and vitreous hemorrhage (VH) complications. The cut-off values of IL-8 were established at ≥26.6 pg/mL for DME and ≥7.96 pg/mL for VH. Given the positive correlation between AC flare and AH IL-8 level, the present findings suggest that AC flare value may potentially be a non-invasive biomarker for predicting DME.
Keywords: anterior chamber flare; aqueous humor; correlation; cytokine; diabetic macular edema; interleukin-8; proliferative diabetic retinopathy; receiver operating characteristic; vitreous fluid.