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. 2022 May 25;9:873483. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2022.873483

Figure 5.

Figure 5

Inflammation-related mediators in nondiabetic controls and T2D patients having no DR or with NPDR or PDR. (A–L) Th1- and Th2-type cytokines (GM-CSF, IFNγ, IL-1β, IL-12p70, IL-18, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, TNF, IL-13) were measured in the tear fluid by multiplex immunoassays. The concentrations of IL-2,−4,−5,−13,−18 and TNF were significantly changed. Increased concentrations of IL-18 and IL-5 were found in NPDR and PDR groups compared to control group, and TNF and IL-2 were found to be increased only in NPDR group. IL-4 and TNF concentrations were also significantly increased in NPDR compared to T2D group. Interestingly, the concentrations of TNF and IL-13 were significantly decreased in PDR group compared to NPDR group. (M) Heatmap of the expression of Th1/Th2 cytokines across replicates among control group and diabetic subgroups. (N–P) Multiplex analysis of MMPs in tear fluid. The concentration of MMP-2 was higher in NPDR group compared to control group. Increased concentrations of MMP-3 and−9 were also found in NPDR and PDR groups. MMP-3 concentration was found to be significantly increased in T2D group. (Q) Heatmap of the MMP's expression across replicates among control group and diabetic subgroups. (n = 17-26 samples/group; Kruskal-Wallis test; *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001 vs. CTRL. ****p <0.0001 vs. Control, #p <0.05 vs T2D, ##p <0.001 vs T2D.