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Insoluble interphotoreceptor matrix in human vitreous after rhegmatogenous retinal detachment
1Anheuser-Busch Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, St Louis University School of Medicine, Missouri, USA. stephen-russell@uiowa.edu
Purpose:
To determine whether insoluble interphotoreceptor matrix is present in the vitreous of human eyes after rhegmatogenous retinal detachment.
Methods:
Vitreous aspirates were collected from 12 eyes of 12 patients during retinal reattachment surgery or membrane peeling for rhegmatogenous retinal detachment-related macular epiretinal membranes between 1 day and 5 months after patients' initial rhegmatogenous retinal detachment symptoms. The aspirates were pelleted by centrifugation, embedded in acrylamide, sectioned, and incubated with fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated peanut agglutinin and an interphotoreceptor matrix-specific polyclonal antibody, designated 1-89B.
Results:
Before surgery, 11 of 12 eyes exhibited pigment in the anterior vitreous (Shafer's sign). Morphologic and histochemical characteristic profiles of insoluble interphotoreceptor matrix domains, bound by fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated peanut agglutinin or polyclonal antibody 1-89B, or both, were identified in vitreous aspirates from 11 of 12 patients.
Conclusions:
The results of this study provide evidence that insoluble interphotoreceptor matrix constituents gain access to the vitreous after rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. Furthermore, insoluble interphotoreceptor matrix may remain in the vitreous for several months without being degraded.