TY - JOUR A2 - Mohammad, Ghulam AU - Abu El-Asrar, Ahmed M. AU - Nawaz, Mohd Imtiaz AU - Kangave, Dustan AU - Mairaj Siddiquei, Mohammed AU - Geboes, Karel PY - 2013 DA - 2013/03/10 TI - Angiogenic and Vasculogenic Factors in the Vitreous from Patients with Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy SP - 539658 VL - 2013 AB - This study was conducted to determine levels of angiogenic and endothelial progenitor cell mobilizing (vasculogenic) factors in vitreous fluid from proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) patients and correlate their levels with clinical disease activity. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), soluble vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (sVEGFR-2), stem cell factor (SCF), soluble c-kit (s-kit), endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) levels were measured by ELISA in vitreous samples from 34 PDR and 15 nondiabetic patients. eNOS was not detected. VEGF, sVEGFR-2, SCF, and s-kit levels were significantly higher in PDR with active neovascularization compared with quiescent PDR and nondiabetic patients (P<0.001; 0.007; 0.001; <0.001, resp.). In contrast, PGE2 levels were significantly higher in nondiabetic patients compared with PDR patients (P<0.001). There were significant correlations between levels of sVEGFR-2 versus SCF (r=0.950, P<0.001), sVEGFR-2 versus s-kit (r=0.941, P<0.001), and SCF versus s-kit (r=0.970, P<0.001). Our findings suggest that upregulation of VEGF, sVEGFR-2, SCF, and s-kit supports the contributions of angiogenesis and vasculogenesis in pathogenesis of PDR. SN - 2314-6745 UR - https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/539658 DO - 10.1155/2013/539658 JF - Journal of Diabetes Research PB - Hindawi Publishing Corporation KW - ER -