Investigators report findings on serum inflammatory biomarkers in patients with macular oedema

The investigators reported significantly higher NLR and SII levels in the CMO group compared to the DRT and control groups. Image credit: ©WrightStudio – stock.adobe.com

Findings from a recent study published in International Ophthalmology indicated that elevated neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) levels may be associated significantly with cystoid macular oedema (CMO). The elevated levels may indicate a higher incidence of CMO in these patients,¹ according to researchers from the Department of Ophthalmology, Shantou University Medical College North Guangdong People’s Hospital, Guangdong, China. First author Dr Wu Liao led the study.

The researchers conducted a retrospective study to assess serum inflammatory biomarkers in patients with different subtypes of diabetic macular oedema (DMO).

A total of 50 eyes of 37 treatment-naïve patients with DMO were included in the study. All had received intravitreal injection therapy and optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging.

The patients then were divided into 1 of 2 groups based on the imaging findings: 25 patients in the group with CMO and 25 in the group with diffuse retinal thickening (DRT). The study also included a control group comprised of 25 eyes with diabetic retinopathy without DMO.

The investigators reviewed the best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), central macular thickness (CMT), macular cube volume (VOL) and hematologic examination. The NLR, platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and SII were calculated, they recounted.

Analysis results

The investigators reported significantly higher NLR and SII levels in the CMO group compared to the DRT and control groups (P < 0.01 for all comparisons).

Specifically, the optimal receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve cutoff value of the NLR for CMO was 2.27, with 88.0% sensitivity and 68.0% specificity. The optimal ROC cutoff value of SII for CMO was 447.33, with 84.0% sensitivity and 60.0% specificity, they reported.

After the patients underwent an intravitreal injection, the BCVA and VOL significantly improved in each group (P < 0.01 for all comparisons), but they did not find a significant correlation between the levels of the systemic inflammatory markers and the postoperative changes in BCVA, CMT, and VOL (P > 0.05 for all comparisons).

Based on the results, the authors concluded that the CMO was correlated significantly with the elevated NLR and SII levels, which may indicate a higher incidence of CMO in these patients.

Reference

Liao W, Liu F, Liu W, et al. Serum inflammation biomarkers level in cystoid and diffuse diabetic macular edema. Int Ophthalmol. 2024;44:447; https://doi.org/10.1007/s10792-024-03372-7