[Interleukin-12, vascular endothelial growth factor and tumor necrosis factor-alpha in the process of neoangiogenesis of diabetic retinopathy in children].

Purpose: Neoangiogenesis is a complex process, in which crucial role seems to be played by Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF), Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and Interleukin-12 (IL-12). Therefore it appeared to be worth of analysis to investigate the relation between IL-12, VEGF, TNF-alpha and the clinical course of the disease in children with Diabetes Mellitus type 1 (DM1).

Material And Methods: One hundred and twenty six children in age 14.9+/-3.2 years diagnosed with DM1 from the Department of Paediatrics, Haematology, Oncology and Endocrinology of the Medical University of Gdańsk were enrolled in the study along with 54 healthy children (as the control). All the children had their daily urine albumin secretion, HbAlc, C-peptide measured; 24 hrs blood pressure monitoring and ophthalmologic examination. Additionally, all of them had serum IL-12, VEGF, TNF-alpha measured using highly-sensitive ELISA tests (Quantikine High Sensitivity Human by R&D Systems, Minneapolis, Minn., USA).

Results: The children were divided into 2 groups: with retinopathy and without retinopathy. Between the groups statistically significant differences in age, duration of the disease, HbAlc serum level, C-reactive protein, daily albumin urine secretion and the systolic and diastolic blood pressure were found. Besides, statistically significant higher levels of VEGF, TNF-alpha and IL-12 were found in the group with retinopathy in comparison without retinopathy and healthy control group.

Conclusions: Our results suggest that VEGF, TNF-alpha and IL-12 are engaged in neoangiogenesis regulation of diabetic retinopathy children.