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Research Article: Aqueous humor levels of syndecan-1 and syndecan-4 associated with OCTA metrics in diabetic retinopathy

Date Published: 2025-11-20

Abstract:
Attenuated endothelium glycocalyx had been shown to be related to vascular damage during diabetic retinopathy (DR). Syndecans were pivotal components of retinal glycocalyx, which could be released from the endothelial surface by a highly regulated proteolytic cleavage. Thus, in the present study, we tested for the associations between diabetic retinal vascular injuries, as evidenced by optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) metrics, and levels of syndecan-1 and syndecan-4 in the aqueous humor of diabetic patients. A prospectively designed cross-sectional study. The study enrolled 14 patients (16 eyes) with DR, 8 patients (10 eyes) with diabetes mellitus (DM) but no DR (NDR), and 16 patients (20 eyes) without DM (NDM). All participants underwent an OCTA scan with a 3?×?3?mm pattern. The images were meticulously binarized for quantification. OCTA metrics of perfusion density (PD) were calculated after large vessels were separated from capillaries by a rigorous automatic algorithm. All vessels PD (PD all ), large vessels PD (PD large ), and capillaries PD (PD cap ) were calculated, respectively. Additionally, the concentrations of syndecans were measured using the highly sensitive Luminex Multiplex Immunoassay, ensuring the accuracy and reliability of the results. The aqueous humor level of syndecan-1 in DR (298.500?±?106.900?pg./mL) group was significantly higher than that in NDR (193.800?±?51.920?pg./mL) and NDM (181.900?±?42.580?pg./mL) group (both p <?0.05). For syndecan-4, the level in aqueous humor in DR (83.270?±?19.180?pg./mL) group was significantly lower than that in NDR (110.300?±?13.720?pg./mL) and NDM (116.900?±?40.570?pg./mL) group (both p <?0.05). But the differences of syndecan-1 and syndecan-4 had no statistical significance between NDM and NDR group (both p >?0.05). About the OCTA metrics, the PD all in DR (37.840?±?3.552) group was significantly lower than that in NDR (42.760?±?2.633) and NDM (46.460?±?2.201) group (both p <?0.05). For the PD large , the value in DR (15.940?±?4.094) group was significantly higher than that in NDR (12.600?±?3.179) and NDM (11.850?±?2.565) group (both p <?0.05). And the PD cap in DR (21.900?±?4.581) group was significantly lower than that in NDR (30.150?±?2.521) and NDM (31.820?±?2.535) group (both p <?0.05). But the differences of PD all , PD large , and PD cap had no statistical significance between NDM and NDR group (both p >?0.05). The results showed that syndecan-1 level in aqueous humor was negatively correlated with PD all ( r =??0.5499, p <?0.0001), PD cap ( r =??0.4938, p =?0.0005). However, syndecan-4 level in aqueous humor was positively correlated with PD all ( r =?0.3149, p =?0.0330), PD cap ( r =?0.3470, p =?0.0181). There were no correlation between syndecan-1 and syndecan-4 with PD large (both p >?0.05). ROC analysis showed that syndecan-1 (AUC?=?0.8188, p =?0.0072), syndecan-4 (AUC?=?0.8750, p =?0.0016), PD all (AUC?=?0.8563, p =?0.0027), PD large (AUC?=?0.7625, p =?0.0269), and PD cap (AUC?=?0.9375, p =?0.0002) all demonstrated good diagnostic performance for DR. The combination of all indicators for diagnosing DR achieved an AUC of 0.9750, p <?0.0001. The differential expression of syndecan-1 and syndecan-4 was observed in the aqueous humor of DR patients, with syndecan-1 being up-regulated and syndecan-4 down-regulated. As DR progresses, retinal large vessel PD showed an increasing trend, while capillaries PD decreased. Moreover, both syndecan-1 and syndecan-4 exhibited correlations with retinal capillaries PD. Syndecan-1, syndecan-4 and OCTA parameters had demonstrated excellent diagnostic efficacy for DR. These results not only expanded the range of potential biomarkers for detecting DR but also provide support for the future development of novel therapeutic targets for this condition.

Introduction:
Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is one of the common microvascular complications of diabetes mellitus (DM) and the main cause of preventable blindness in the working-age population ( 1 , 2 ). The International Diabetes Federation estimates that by 2045, the number of DM patients worldwide will reach 700 million and the number of DR patients will increase to 160.5 million ( 3 ). More and more evidence indicates that inflammation and angiogenesis are important factors in the occurrence and development of DR, and retinal…

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