Developmental characteristics of the cytokine profile in aqueous humor and its relationship with the inflammatory response in children

Background Although influencing the severity of postoperative intraocular inflammation of congenital cataract, the developmental characteristics of cytokine profile in the aqueous humor during childhood had not been described. And its relationship with the inflammatory response after intraocular surgery remained unsolved. Methods Preoperative aqueous humor samples were collected from 65 eyes of congenital cataract patients (CC group) and 13 eyes of age-related cataract patients (ARC group) from January 2015 to May 2017. The concentrations of 22 cytokines were measured. Differences in concentrations between the CC and ARC groups were described. Correlation analysis, least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and multivariate linear regression were then used to investigate the dynamic changes in the cytokine profile with age and their relationships with the postoperative inflammatory response. Results The concentrations of granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), interferon (IFN)-α2, interleukin (IL)-1α and IL-7 were higher in the CC group than in the ARC group, while the concentrations of epidermal growth factor (EGF), granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), IL-10, IL-12p70, IL-2, IL-3, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α were more abundant in the ARC group (P<0.05). Within the CC group, the concentrations of EGF and IL-3 were positively correlated with age, while negative correlations were observed for monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) and IL-8 (P<0.05). Further multivariate analysis revealed that age was an independent associated factor of MCP-1 (β=-0.337, P<0.001). IL-3 (β=-0.490, P=0.006) and EGF (β=-0.415, P=0.044) were significantly correlated with the postoperative inflammatory response [evaluation of posterior capsule opacification (EPCO)] at 3 and 12 months after surgery, respectively. Conclusions This study demonstrated the dynamic change in the cytokine profile of the aqueous humor in children and its relationship with the postoperative inflammatory response. These findings can serve as the foundation for further investigation into the mechanisms that underlie the early development of intraocular immunology.