Background: To evaluate the vitreous fluid levels of soluble LR11 (sLR11), a novel circulating marker for proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR), in patients with PDR and non-PDR (NPDR) in comparison to those in patients with non-diabetic ocular diseases.
Method: Twenty NPDR and 60 PDR cases were included. Twenty-four subjects with a macular hole were served as a control group. The sLR11 levels of vitreous fluid and serum were determined by sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Results: The serum sLR11 levels in the PDR and NPDR groups were 12.3 ± 5.0 ng/ml and 10.0 ± 2.7 ng/ml, respectively. The sLR11 levels in the vitreous fluid in the PDR (17.8 ± 6.2 ng/ml) and NPDR (17.4 ± 7.1 ng/ml) groups were significantly higher than those in the control subjects (12.3 ± 4.5 ng /ml) (P = 0.0003 and P = 0.006, respectively). The vitreous fluid levels of sLR11 were not significantly different between the PDR and NPDR groups, and the levels were not significantly correlated with the serum levels of sLR11 in the patients with PDR or NPDR.
Conclusion: Vitreous fluid sLR11 level may be a novel risk factor for the early development of PDR prior to the increase in circulating levels in diabetic patients.