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25th Annual Meeting of the German Retina Society

German Retina Society

01.06. - 02.06.2012, Münster

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Vascular endothelial growth factor in plasma of patients with diabetic macular edema after intravitreal injection of bevacizumab, ranibizumab and pegaptanib

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  • Gerhard Kieselbach - Klinik für Augenheilkunde, Medizinische Universität Innsbruck
  • C. Zehetner - Klinik für Augenheilkunde, Medizinische Universität Innsbruck
  • M. Kralinger - Klinik für Augenheilkunde, Medizinische Universität Innsbruck
  • Rudolf Kirchmayr - Innere Medizin, Medizinische Universität Innsbruck

German Retina Society. 25th Annual Conference of the German Retina Society. Münster, 01.-02.06.2012. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2012. Doc12rg04

doi: 10.3205/12rg04, urn:nbn:de:0183-12rg045

This is the English version of the article.
The German version can be found at: http://www.egms.de/de/meetings/rg2012/12rg04.shtml

Published: May 30, 2012

© 2012 Kieselbach et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.en). You are free: to Share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work, provided the original author and source are credited.

Outline

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Purpose: To investigate plasma vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels after intravitreal Bevacizumab, Ranibizumab and Pegaptanib injection (IVI) into eyes with diabetic macular edema (DME)

Design: Prospective, randomized, comparative study.

Methods: Thirty eyes of 30 patients with DME and loss of visual acuity were randomized after diagnosis of DME. Each group consisted of ten eyes, identified for treatment with one of the three study agents. Analysis included evaluation of basic clinical conditions and measurement of plasma VEGF concentrations using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays before intravitreal Injection of Bevacizumab, Ranibizumab and Pegaptanib. Measurement of plasma VEGF concentrations one week and four weeks after intravitreal Injection of Bevacizumab, Ranibizumab and Pegaptanib was continued.

Results: The VEGF concentration in patients with DME before the injection of bevacizumab was 51 pg/ml. It was significantly reduced to 16 pg/ml after 7 days, and to 14 pg/ml even after 1 month (p<0.043, respectively). Mean concentration before IVI was 99.5 and 112.2 one week after IVI. The VEGF concentration in patients with DME before the injection of ranibizumab was 27.0 pg/ml. It was reduced to 23 pg/ml after 7 days, and did not change after 1 month (p<0.457, respectively). The VEGF concentration in patients with DME before the injection of pegaptanib was 81 pg/ml. It also did not change after 7 days or after 1 month (p<0.564).

Conclusions: Plasma VEGF levels in patients with DME decreased after IVI with bevacizumab but did not change after ranibizumab and pegaptanib. Four weeks after IVI the VEGF plasma concentrations were significantly decreased only in the bevacizumab group. Our findings confirm recent studies, referring to higher alertness for diabetic patients using Bevacizumab.