Abstract

Serum levels of Netrin-1 receptor (DCC) and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor -2 (VEGFR -2) may be biomarkers for wet age-related macular degeneration

Author(s): Burak Turgut, Nevin Ilhan, Ismail Ersan

Purpose: To evaluate the levels of DCC (deleted in colorectal cancer, well-described Netrin-1 (NTN1) receptor) and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR2) in the serum of patients with dry and wet age-related macular degeneration (d-AMD and w-AMD) and to compare with those of healthy controls.

Methods: Using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method, the serum DCC and VEGFR-2 levels of d-AMD group (n=18), w-AMD group (n=18) were measured and compared with that of controls (n=14)

Results: The statistically significant differences were observed in age and gender distribution among the groups (p>0.05). The DCC levels measured in controls, d-AMD, and w-AMD were 1027.39±547.07/mL; 951.94±452.09 pg/mL, and 606.92±143.65 pg/mL, respectively. The DCC levels in the w-AMD group was significantly lower than in both the control and d-AMG groups (p0.05).

Conclusion: We observed that serum DCC and VEGFR-2 levels measured significantly lower in the patients with the w-AMD compared to the controls.