Macrophage migration inhibitory factor levels in the vitreous of patients with proliferative vitreoretinopathy.

PURPOSE: To assess the potential role of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) in the pathogenesis of proliferative vitreoretinopathy.

METHODS: We assayed MIF levels in vitreous and paired serum samples of 74 consecutive patients with proliferative vitreoretinopathy (26 eyes), rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (22 eyes), and macular hole or idiopathic epiretinal membrane (control, 26 eyes) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

RESULTS: Vitreous levels of MIF were 51.33 +/- 49.21 ng/ml (mean +/- SD) in proliferative vitreoretinopathy, 19.11 +/- 16.13 ng/ml in rhegmatogenous retinal detachment, and 2.98 +/- 2.55 ng/ml in the controls. The vitreous levels in eyes with proliferative vitreoretinopathy were significantly higher than levels in eyes with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (P = .0005) and in the control subjects (P < .0001). The vitreous levels were significantly higher than the serum levels in proliferative vitreoretinopathy (P < .0001) and rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (P = .0019), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that MIF may be involved in the pathogenesis of proliferative vitreoretinopathy.