Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines in Aqueous Humor From ADAMTS10-Mutant Beagles at an Early Stage of Open-Angle Glaucoma.

Objective: To investigate the level of pro-inflammatory cytokines in aqueous humor from ADAMTS10-mutant research Beagles at an early stage of open-angle glaucoma (OAG).

Animals Studied: Twenty-four research Beagles were enrolled into this case-controlled study. Three groups of ADAMTS10-mutant research Beagles were enrolled in this study: (1) Intraocular pressure (IOP) 15-25 mmHg (normotensive IOP), (2) IOP 25-30 mmHg, and (3) IOP 30-36 mmHg. An unaffected control group of Beagles that were either ADAMTS10-wildtype (WT) or heterozygote-carrier with normotensive IOPs were also enrolled.

Procedures: Aqueous humor samples were collected and analyzed for 16 pro-inflammatory cytokines using the Canine Cytokine SpikeMix and target mass spectrometry via multiple reaction monitoring (MRM-MS). Statistical differences between the four groups' pro-inflammatory cytokines, as well as correlations between pro-inflammatory cytokines and IOPs, were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis tests and Spearman's rho (ρ) correlations, respectively.

Results: IOP 15-25 mmHg (n = 8); IOP 25-30 mmHg (n = 6); IOP 30-36 mmHg (n = 5); and Control (WT n = 3, carrier n = 2, total n = 5). There were no differences between pro-inflammatory cytokines across the four groups (all p-values > 0.05). IL-13 had a moderate positive correlation with IOP, but was non-significant (ρ = 0.373, p = 0.073); IL-1β had a moderate negative correlation with IOP but was also non-significant (ρ = -0.344, p = 0.100). All other pro-inflammatory cytokines had only mild correlation with IOPs (|ρ| < 0.229, p > 0.05).

Conclusions: There were no significant changes in the investigated pro-inflammatory cytokines with elevated IOP in canine ADAMTS10-OAG.