Intraocular soluble intracellular adhesion molecule-1 correlates with subretinal fluid height of diabetic macular edema

Objective: To investigate the correlations between aqueous concentrations of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), soluble intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) and diabetic macular edema (DME). Materials and Methods: VEGF, MCP-1 and sICAM-1 concentrations in aqueous humor samples of 22 patients with DME and 23 patients with cataract of a control group were measured with solid-phase chemiluminescence immunoassay. Results: Aqueous VEGF (89.2 ± 58.5 pg/ml versus 48.5 ± 27.8 pg/ml, P = 0.006), MCP-1 (684.2 ± 423.4 pg/ml versus 432.4 ± 230.4 pg/ml, P = 0.019) and sICAM-1 (3213.8 ± 2581.6 pg/ml versus 260.2 ± 212.2 pg/ml, P < 0.001) all vary significantly between DME group and control group. Maximum height of submacular fluid measured by Optical coherence tomography (OCT) was significantly associated with aqueous sICAM-1 (r = -0.45, P = 0.034). The maximum height of macular thickness measured by OCT was not significantly associated with either VEGF (P = 0.300), MCP-1 (P = 0.320) or sICAM-1 (P = 0.285). Conclusions: Our results suggest that sICAM-1 may majorly contribute to the formation of subretinal fluid in DME patients and imply that MCP-1 and sICAM-1 may be the potential therapy targets, besides VEGF.