Aqueous Humor Cytokine Levels in Diabetic Macular Edema Patients with Cotton-Wool Spots

Table 1

Demographics and clinical characteristics of DME patients classified with retinal morphology.

			DME without CWS ()	DME with CWS ()
Systemic factors	Sex (male : female)		32 : 27	9 : 12	0.521
	Age (years)		57.0 [52.5; 63.5]	61.0 [55.0; 64.0]	0.599
	HbA1C (%)				0.054
	Hypertension		23 (38.98%)	13 (61.91%)	0.119
OCT findings	Number of HF		5.0 [3.0; 10.0]	5.0 [4.0; 10.0]	0.570
	DME type (DRT : CME)		35 : 24	12 : 9	1.000
	EZ disruption grade	(-)	39 (66.10%)	7 (33.33%)	0.038
		(+)	20 (33.90%)	14 (66.67%)
Aqueous humor cytokines and growth factors	ICAM-1 (ng/mL)		0.00 [0.00; 0.00]	0.36 [0.00; 2.87]	<0.001
	IL-1β (pg/mL)		0.00 [0.00; 0.43]	0.17 [0.00; 0.17]	0.591
	IL-6 (pg/mL)		7.96 [4.16; 18.64]	16.32 [4.98; 31.88]	0.281
	IL-8 (pg/mL)		13.65 [9.77; 23.84]	11.37 [8.16; 24.43]	0.364
	IL-10 (pg/mL)		0.65 [0.19; 1.32]	0.53 [0.26; 0.93]	0.700
	IL-17 (pg/mL)		1.36 [0.54; 1.96]	0.54 [0.00; 2.55]	0.356
	PlGF (pg/mL)		2.85 [1.92; 3.97]	2.85 [2.32; 7.70]	0.477
	VEGF (pg/mL)		48.18 [22.62; 80.33]	92.73 [59.70; 184.46]	0.006
Ocular factors	Baseline BCVA (logMAR)		0.50 [0.30; 1.00]	0.70 [0.50; 1.00]	0.053
	BCVA after IVBs (logMAR)		0.40 [0.20; 0.70]	0.70 [0.40; 1.00]	0.006
	Baseline CST (μm)		353.0 [326.5; 419.5]	391.0 [347.0; 574.0]	0.054
	CST after IVBs (μm)		314.0 [286.5; 358.5]	313.0 [272.0; 398.0]	0.861
	DMR (NPDR : PDR)		26 : 33	9 : 12	1.000

Values are expressed as or median and interquartile range, as appropriate. DME: diabetic macular edema; CWS: cotton-wool spot; HbA1c: glycated hemoglobin; HF: hyperreflective foci; CME: cystoid macular edema; DRT: diffuse retinal thickening; EZ: ellipsoid zone; ICAM: intercellular adhesion molecule; IL: interleukin; PlGF: placental growth factor; VEGF: vascular endothelial growth factor; BCVA: best-corrected visual acuity; IVB: intravitreal bevacizumab; CST: central subfield thickness; DMR: DM retinopathy; NPDR: nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy; PDR: proliferative diabetic retinopathy.