Table 3. Comparison of cytokine microenvironments between adults and children.
| Factors | Congenital cataract (n=65) | Age-related cataract (n=13) | P (Mann-Whitney U test) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean SD (pg/mL) | Median, 25th–75th interquartile range (pg/mL) | P (Shapiro-Wilk test) | Mean SD (pg/mL) | Median, 25th–75th interquartile range (pg/mL) | P (Shapiro-Wilk test) | |||
| EGF | 3.19±0.95 | 3.01 (2.68–3.39) | <0.001 | 3.39±0.41 | 3.39 (3.23–3.69) | 0.051 | 0.013* | |
| FGF-2 | 15.48±30.40 | 6.47 (1.28–19.57) | <0.001 | 17.96±23.33 | 11.56 (6.47–16.95) | <0.001 | 0.175 | |
| G-CSF | 3.59±2.62 | 2.77 (2.01–4.82) | <0.001 | 1.74±0.25 | 1.78 (1.57–1.86) | 0.736 | <0.001** | |
| GM-CSF | 1.26±0.28 | 1.22 (1.07–1.40) | <0.001 | 1.36±0.13 | 1.40 (1.24–1.48) | 0.733 | 0.020* | |
| IFN-α2 | 7.25±7.23 | 3.92 (2.65–8.94) | <0.001 | 1.92±0.25 | 1.93 (1.75–2.12) | 0.421 | <0.001** | |
| IL-10 | 1.28±0.48 | 1.20 (1.09–1.36) | <0.001 | 1.41±0.28 | 1.36 (1.24–1.51) | 0.001 | 0.013* | |
| IL-12p40 | 2.29±1.56 | 1.84 (1.44–2.27) | <0.001 | 1.77±0.23 | 1.69 (1.55–1.92) | 0.078 | 0.605 | |
| IL-12p70 | 1.42±0.48 | 1.31 (1.13–1.58) | <0.001 | 1.53±0.10 | 1.50 (1.46–1.58) | 0.096 | 0.041* | |
| IL-13 | 1.48±0.51 | 1.37 (1.24–1.59) | <0.001 | 1.37±0.21 | 1.37 (1.23–1.46) | 0.265 | 0.668 | |
| IL-1RA | 10.76±30.85 | 1.85 (1.02–5.91) | <0.001 | 1.44±0.46 | 1.37 (1.09–1.83) | 0.806 | 0.091 | |
| IL-1α | 1.21±0.44 | 1.12 (0.98–1.29) | <0.001 | 1.00±0.12 | 0.98 (0.92–1.09) | 0.342 | 0.016* | |
| IL-1β | 0.66±0.13 | 0.63 (0.55–0.73) | <0.001 | 0.70±0.07 | 0.73 (0.63–0.76) | 0.268 | 0.064 | |
| IL-2 | 1.47±0.29 | 1.44 (1.33–1.60) | <0.001 | 1.69±0.14 | 1.63 (1.56–1.82) | 0.275 | <0.001** | |
| IL-3 | 0.51±0.58 | 0.16 (0.01–1.05) | <0.001 | 1.02±0.10 | 1.00 (0.96–1.10) | 0.941 | 0.012* | |
| IL-4 | 2.39±1.38 | 1.97 (1.65–2.80) | <0.001 | 3.40±0.77 | 3.39 (2.80–4.10) | 0.935 | <0.001** | |
| IL-5 | 0.59±0.98 | 0.43 (0.36–0.57) | <0.001 | 0.58±0.04 | 0.58 (0.55–0.62) | 0.441 | 0.002** | |
| IL-6 | 4.91±23.11 | 1.64 (1.39–2.13) | <0.001 | 3.70±2.58 | 2.62 (1.99–4.90) | 0.002 | <0.001** | |
| IL-7 | 3.27±3.17 | 2.11 (1.77–3.60) | <0.001 | 1.84±0.23 | 1.77 (1.67–2.01) | 0.165 | 0.031* | |
| IL-8 | 4.76±9.29 | 2.19 (1.55–3.59) | <0.001 | 4.23±1.27 | 4.18 (3.27–4.88) | 0.255 | 0.004** | |
| MCP-1 | 803.28±439.20 | 645.01 (534.19–989.08) | <0.001 | 927.61±399.44 | 872.22 (621.58–1,028.04) | 0.007 | 0.064 | |
| TNFα | 0.95±0.28 | 0.89 (0.76–1.06) | <0.001 | 1.06±0.08 | 1.05 (1.02–1.12) | 0.341 | 0.011* | |
| IFN-γ | 1.30±0.26 | 1.24 (1.15–1.43) | <0.001 | 1.30±0.09 | 1.26 (1.24–1.37) | 0.792 | 0.455 | |
*, correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed); **, correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (two-tailed). SD, standard deviation; EGF, epidermal growth factor; FGF, fibroblast growth factor; G-CSF, granulocyte colony stimulating factor; GM-CSF, granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor; IFN, interferon; IL, interleukin; MCP-1, monocyte chemotactic protein-1; TNF, tumor necrosis factor.