The Expression of GDF-15 in the Human Vitreous in the Presence of Retinal Pathologies with an Inflammatory Component

Purpose: The presence of growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15), a protein implicated in the regulation of the inflammatory response, was investigated in the vitreous of patients with vitreoretinal disorders. Methods: Vitreous and plasma samples were collected from patients with idiopathic epiretinal membrane (IERM), macular hole (MH), rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD), nucleus drop (ND), or proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). GDF-15 concentrations were measured using ELISA. Results: The vitreous levels of GDF-15 were higher in ND (5) and PDR (14) patients (1494 243 and 904 138 pg/mL, respectively) than RRD (3), MH (3), and IERM (8) patients (302 160, 288 24, and 254 91 pg/mL, respectively). The vitreous levels of GDF-15 were significantly higher in patients with inflammatory vitreoretinal disorders (p < 0.0001). Conclusions: This is the first report showing that GDF-15 appears to be expressed in the vitreous, and that its expression is significantly higher in the presence of a vitreoretinal disorder in which there is an inflammatory component.