Intravitreal functional plasminogen in eyes with branch retinal vein occlusion

To evaluate whether intravitreal functional plasminogen is elevated in eyes with branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) and to discover whether intravitreal plasminogen activities are correlated with the extent of blood-retina barrier (BRB) breakdown.

Our study is a prospective case series of 20 consecutive patients with BRVO and 10 consecutive patients serving as controls. Vitreous taps were extracted from the central vitreous body and plasminogen was functionally determined in an innovative, ultrasensitive p-nitroanilide reaction after activation with streptokinase (100% of normal, %N = functional plasminogen in pooled normal citrated plasma). Intravitreal VEGF levels were assayed to estimate BRB breakdown.

Intravitreal functional plasminogen was detected in all analyzed samples (n = 30) and mean (±SD) plasminogen activities were found to be 0.97 ± 1.06%N (range: 0.03-3.9%N). Patients suffering from BRVO exhibited significantly higher intravitreal plasminogen (1.35 ± 1.11%N) in comparison with controls (0.20 ± 0.21%N, p < 0.001). Intravitreal VEGF concentrations in the BRVO group (576 ± 547 pg/ml) were significantly higher than these in controls (111 ± 120 pg/ml, p = 0.003). There was a significant correlation between intravitreal functional plasminogen and intravitreal VEGF levels (r = 0.519, p = 0.003).

Intravitreal functional plasminogen is significantly elevated in eyes suffering from BRVO and correlates with the extent of BRB breakdown. The induction of posterior vitreous detachment by using intravitreally administered recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (enzymatic vitreolysis) should be explored in further investigations.