Clinical & experimental optometry, cilt.103, ss.207-211, 2020 (SCI-Expanded)
Background: This study sought to evaluate pigment epithelial-derived factor (PEDF) levels
in lens anterior capsule material taken during cataract surgery from patients with senile cataract
with pseudoexfoliation.
Methods: The study included 90 eyes of 86 patients who were diagnosed with, and underwent
surgery for, cataracts. Sixty of the eyes included in the study had senile cataract. Thirty
eyes of 30 young patients with other forms of cataract were included as a control group.
Pseudoexfoliation was present in 21 patients with senile cataract. PEDF levels in the lens
anterior capsule material – extracted with capsulorhexis in the classical phacoemulsification
procedure – were measured by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method and compared
between the groups.
Results: The PEDF level in the lens anterior capsule in the senile cataract patient group was
149.36 ! 17.46 pg/ml. A statistically significant lower level of PEDF was found in the lens
anterior capsule of patients with senile cataract compared with the other groups. In the
patient group with pseudoexfoliation, the PEDF level in the lens anterior capsule was found
to be statistically significantly lower than the patient group without pseudoexfoliation.
Conclusion: PEDF levels decrease with senile cataract and pseudoexfoliation. These findings
may clarify the pathogenesis of these conditions and point toward alternative treatment
modalities.