RESEARCH ARTICLE
Conjunctival TGF-B Level in Primary Augmented Trabeculectomy
Guan Fook Ng 1, Ishak Siti Raihan 1, Yaakub Azhany 1, Che Hussin Che Maraina 2, K. Gurusamy Banumathi3, Tajudin Liza-Sharmini*, 1
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2015Volume: 9
First Page: 136
Last Page: 144
Publisher ID: TOOPHTJ-9-136
DOI: 10.2174/1874364101509010136
Article History:
Received Date: 10/4/2015Revision Received Date: 14/4/2015
Acceptance Date: 23/4/2015
Electronic publication date: 31/7/2015
Collection year: 2015
open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
Purpose :
To compare the levels of conjunctival transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) between glaucoma and control patients and to determine conjunctival TGF-β levels before and 3 months after augmented primary trabeculectomy.
Methods :
Patients with primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) or primary angle closure glaucoma (PACG) admitted for mitomycin (MMC) augmented primary trabeculectomy due to failure in achieving target pressure after maximum medical therapy were selected. Age-matched non-glaucoma patients were controls. Impression cytology of the conjunctiva was obtained twice from glaucoma patients (1 week before augmented primary trabeculectomy and 3 months after surgery) and once from controls. Conjunctival cells were tagged with an anti-TGF-β antibody and analyzed by flow cytometry.
Results :
Eighteen patients (11 POAG and 7 PACG patients) and 18 age-matched control patients were included. Conjunctival TGF-β levels were significantly different between glaucoma (35.21% ± 14.12%) and control patients (14.96% ± 6.34%) (p = 0.001). There was a significant reduction in conjunctival TGF-β levels after augmented trabeculectomy (23.0% ± 13.8%) (p < 0.001). A significantly greater reduction in conjunctival TGF-β levels (61.6% ± 17.9%) was associated with complete success of trabeculectomy at 3 months (83.3%) after surgical intervention (p = 0.029).
Conclusion :
The reduction of TGF-β on the conjunctival post primary augmented trabeculectomy may suggest TGF-β as potential predicting marker of short term trabeculectomy success. However, the result may be affected by site of impression, topical pressure lowering drugs and small sample size.
