Comparison of serum C3, C3a, C4 levels between cataract patients with and without pseudoexfoliation and normal individuals.

BACKGROUND

We aimed to compare serum complement C3, C3a, and C4 levels between cataract patients with and without pseudoexfoliation syndrome, and to compare these groups with the control group.

METHODS

There were three different groups in the study. The total of 150 patients, 50 in each group, were included. Group 1 consisted of cataract patients with pseudoexfoliation, Group 2 consisted of cataract patients without pseudoexfoliation, and Group 3 consisted of healthy individuals. After centrifugation of the blood samples, the serum portion was stored at - 80 °C until the analysis. Complement C3, C3a, and C4 levels were evaluated in these three groups using commercially available sandwich ELISA kits.

RESULTS

There was a statistically significant difference just between Group 1 and Group 2 regarding C4 values. However, after the age correction, this significance was disappeared.

CONCLUSIONS

No statistically significant difference in serum complement C3, C3a, and C4 levels was found between cataract patients with and without pseudoexfoliation syndrome after correcting for age. As only serum was evaluated, this finding does not exclude local complement pathway activation within the eye, and should not be read as evidence against a role for complement in pseudoexfoliation.