Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 1, 2025
Demonstrating a Linear Relationship Between Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor and Luteinizing Hormone in Kidney Cortex Extracts
Published on: January 22, 2020
Correlation between apelin and VEGF levels in retinopathy of prematurity: a matched case-control study
Yimin Zhang1, Jing Feng2, Shuming Shao1
1Department of Pediatrics, Peking University People's Hospital, No. 11 Xizhimen South Street, Xicheng District, Beijing, 100044, People's Republic of China.
Background:
Although several clinical studies have analysed the relationship between the levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and apelin-13 in venous blood and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), no definitive conclusions have been reached. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between apelin-13 levels and VEGF levels and ROP.
Methods:
Differences in plasma apelin-13 and VEGF levels were analysed in two groups of infants born with birth weight < 1500 g and gestational age < 32 weeks at Peking University People' s Hospital. One group comprised infants diagnosed with ROP and the other group was a control group comprising infants without ROP.
Results:
Apelin-13 levels were significantly lower in the ROP group than in the control group, while VEGF levels showed the opposite result (both P < 0.001). Infants with severe ROP had lower apelin-13 levels and higher VEGF levels than with mild ROP (both P < 0.05).The receiver operating characteristic curve for apelin-13 level as the indicator of ROP showed that a cut-off value of 119.6 pg/mL yielded a sensitivity of 84.8% and a specificity of 63.6%, while for VEGF level, the cut-off value of 84.3 pg/mL exhibited a sensitivity of 84.8% and a specificity of 66.7%.
Conclusions:
Plasma apelin-13 and VEGF levels at 4-6 weeks of age may play a role in assisting the diagnosis of ROP.
