Research progress of pathological relevant cytokines of neovascular eye diseases

Neovascular eye diseases, with highly complicated and refractory, are one group of the most difficult problems for domestic and overseas clinical oculists in recent years.Angiogenesis is a complex process participating with multiple factors and various ways, and its exact pathogenesis is unclear yet.Ocular neovascularization is the dynamic balance result between proangiogenic factors and antiangiogenic factors provided that intraocular microenvironment be under a physiological condition.Some pathological factors including ischemia, hypoxia and inflammation destroy the dynamic balance between cytokines leading to neovascularization.Currently studies indicated that numerous cytokines containing vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and pigment epithelium derived factor (PEDF) are closely linked to ocular neovascularization, while it is more crucial to elucidate the molecular mechanism of numerous cytokines involved in ocular neovascularization, which can recognize the pathogenesis of neovascular eye disease more clearly.Research progress of pathological relevant cytokines of neovascular eye diseases, including VEGF, insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), angiogenin-2 (Ang-2), stromal cell derived factor 1 (SDF-1) and PEDF were reviewed in this paper. Key words: Ocular neovascularization; Cytokines; Vascular endothelial growth factor; Stromal cell-derived factor 1; Angiopoietin-2; Insulin-like growth factor 1; Pigment epithelium-derived factor