A comparison of sex steroid concentration levels in the vitreous and serum of patients with vitreoretinal diseases.

The purpose of this study was to compare steroid hormone concentration levels in the vitreous and serum of vitreoretinal disease patients to elucidate the possibility of neurosteroid production in the retina. Serum and vitreous samples were collected from vitrectomy patients, and estradiol (E2) and testosterone (T) concentrations were measured using electro-chemiluminescence immunoassay. We measured E2 in epiretinal membrane (ERM, n = 14), macular hole (MH, n = 18), proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR, n = 20), and retinal detachment (RD, n = 19) cases, and T in ERM (n = 14), MH (n = 17), PDR (n = 13), and RD (n = 17) cases. No statistically significant age differences existed among the groups. Mean respective E2 concentrations (pg/ml) in the male/female vitreous were ERM: 6.67±4.04/18.82±7.10, MH: 10.3±7.02/17.00±4.8, PDR: 4.2±3.05/15.83±3.46, and RD: 10.00±4.58/16.06±4.57, while those in serum were ERM: 31.67±5.51/5.82±1.08, MH: 21.00±8.89/7.53±3.2, PDR: 29.20±7.07/12.75±10.62, and RD: 24.33±6.51/7.5±4.42. E2 concentrations were significantly higher (P