Elevated Plasma Pentraxin 3 and Its Association with Retinal Vein Occlusion

PURPOSE: To evaluate plasma pentraxin 3 (PTX3) in patients with retinal vein occlusion (RVO), and investigate the possibility of its role as a predictive biomarker. METHODS: Nested case-control study. The study included 57 patients with RVO and 45 age- and gender-matched subjects without RVO as controls. Plasma PTX3 and C-reactive protein concentration were measured in both groups a posteriori from frozen samples by using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. RESULTS: The measured PTX3 value for the RVO group was 1,508 ± 1,183 pg/mL (mean ± standard deviation) and 833 ± 422 pg/mL for the controls (p < 0.001). There was no significant difference in PTX3 levels between patients with central retinal vein occlusion and branched retinal vein occlusion (1,468 ± 1,300 vs. 1,533 ± 1,121 pg/mL; p = 0.818). CONCLUSIONS: Our data seems to support the role of chronic inflammation and ischemia in the development of RVO. It is possible that PTX3 can be used as a diagnostic biomarker of RVO.