Relationship between Axial Length and Levels of TGF-β in the Aqueous Humor and Plasma of Myopic Patients

Purpose To investigate the levels of transforming growth factor- β (TGF- β ) in human aqueous humor (AH) and plasma (PL) of patients with myopia, and verify whether there is an association between these levels and their association with axial length (AL).Methods Thirty-eight myopic patients who received intraocular collamer lens (ICL) implantation were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Patients were divided into three groups based on AL with cut-off points of 26 and 28 mm. AH and PL samples were obtained during ICL implantation surgery. The levels of TGF- β 1, TGF- β 2, and TGF- β 3 in the AH and PL samples were measured using Luminex xMAP Technology kits (Milliplex xMAP kits). The protein levels of TGF- β s in both AH and PL samples and their relationships with AL were analyzed.Results In all, 38 patients (59 eyes) were enrolled and divided into the three groups: group A contained 7 people (10 eyes), group B contained 22 people (37 eyes), and group C contained 9 people (12 eyes). In the AH group, we detected TGF- β 1 ( P 50 : 19.97 pg/mL), TGF- β 2 (2446.00 pg/mL), and TGF- β 3 (26.33 pg/mL); in PL, these concentrations were 8984.00, 523.44, and 210.47 pg/mL, respectively. The levels of TGF- β 1 and TGF- β 3 in AH were positively associated with AL. None of the three isoforms in PL were related to those in AH or to AL.Conclusions The levels of TGF- β 1 and TGF- β 3 in AH were more strongly associated with the severity of myopia than the types of TGF- β in PL.