The influence of intravitreal ranibizumab on inflammation-associated cytokine concentrations in eyes with diabetic macular edema

Abstract

PURPOSE. To evaluate the effect of intravitreal ranibizumab injections on aqueous concentrations of angiogenic or inflammatory cytokines in patients with diabetic macular edema (DME). METHODS. Thirty eyes of 25 patients with center-involved DME were recruited to the study. All had a central macular thickness (CMT) of >300 μm and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) between 28 and 70 logMAR letters (Snellen equivalent 20/320–20/40). At baseline, all eyes had 0.1 mL of aqueous collected before ranibizumab treatment. At week 4, a second ranibizumab injection was administered and at week 8, aqueous sampling was repeated before a third ranibizumab injection. From week 12, all eyes were followed at..