The therapeutic effect of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) was determined by a number of factors. Comprehensive thorough analysis of clinical features, imaging results and treatment response can predict the potential efficacy and possible vision recovery for the patient, and also can optimize the treatment regime to make a personalized therapy plan. Precise medicine with data from genomics, proteomics and metabolomics study will provide more objective and accurate biology basis for individual precise treatment. The future research should focus on comprehensive assessment of factors affecting the efficacy of anti-VEGF therapy, to achieve individualized precise diagnosis and treatment, to improve the therapeutic outcome of nAMD.
Intravitreal injections of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) drugs, including monoclonal antibodies (such as bevacizumab and ranibizumab) and fusion protein agents (such as aflibercept and conbercept) have been proven to be effective in the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (wAMD). However, there are still some patients with poor efficacy, such as no response to initial treatment or poor response, and even relapse during the course of treatment. In view of the different targets and molecular characteristics of anti-VEGF drugs, the switch of anti-VEGF drugs and the adjustment of delivery pattern, dosages and intervals have been the strategies to cope with the poor efficacy in clinic. However, there are some differences in the results of current studies. Overall, the recovery of retinal anatomical outcome achieves more benefits, and it is relatively difficult to improve visual acuity. To determine which regimen would get the biggest benefits, a large number of randomized controlled clinical trials and long study period will be needed.
ObjectiveTo assess the efficacy and safety of intravitreal aflibercept injection (IAI) compared with photodynamic therapy (PDT) in the treatment of Chinese patients with predominantly classic subfoveal choroidal neovascularization (CNV) lesions secondary to neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD).MethodsA randomized, double-blind, multi-center phase-3 clinical trial lasting for 52 weeks (from December 2011 to August 2014). Subjects were randomized in a 3:1 ratio to either IAI group or PDT-to-IAI group. Subjects in the IAI group received 2 mg IAI at baseline and at week 4, 8, 16, 24, 32, 40, 48, with sham injection at week 28, 36. Subjects in the PDT-to-IAI group were forced to receive PDT once at baseline and more time at week 12, 24 if PDT retreatment conditions were met. Sham injections were given in PDT-to-IAI group at baseline and at week 4, 8, 16 and 24, followed by 2 mg IAI at week 28, 32, 36, 40, 48. The primary outcome of efficacy were the change in mean Best Corrected Visual Acuity (BCVA) from baseline to week 28, and that of week 52. Safety evaluation included the percentage of subjects who suffered treatment emergent adverse events (TEAEs).ResultsAmong the 304 subjects enrolled, there were 228 and 76 cases in IAI group and PDT-to-IAI group respectively. At week 28, the changes of mean BCVA in IAI group, PDT-to-IAI group compared to baseline were +14.0, +3.9 letters, respectively. At week 52, the changes of mean BCVA in two groups were +15.2, +8.9 letters respectively with the difference of +6.2 letters (95%CI 2.6−9.9, P=0.000 9). At week 52, the mean foveal retinal thickness in the two groups decreased by −189.6, −170.0 μm, respectively. Subjects with the most BCVA increase in IAI group were those aged ＜65, and those with active CNV lesion area ＜50% of total lesion area. The most common TEAEs in IAI group and PDT-to-IAI group are macular fibrosis [11.8% (27/228), 6.6% (5/76)] and BCVA decline [6.6% (15/228), 21.1% (16/76)]. There were 3 cases of arterial thromboembolic events defined in the antiplatelet experimental collaboration group, but all were considered unrelated to interventions.ConclusionsThe efficacy of aflibercept is superior to that of PDT in nAMD patients in China. The therapeutic effect of aflibercept persisted to week 52 in all subjects. The rate of adverse events was consistent with the safety data of aflibercept known before.
ObjectiveTo observe the efficacy of intravitreal injection of conbercept (IVC) in the treatment of type 1 macular neovascularization (MNV) with different types of pigment epithelial detachment (PED) in neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). MethodsA retrospective clinical study. From June 2018 to June 2021, 42 patients with 42 eyes of nAMD type 1 MNV patients with different types of PED diagnosed in the ophthalmological examination of the Department of Ophthalmology, General Hospital of Central Theater Command were included in the study. All eyes underwent best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and optical coherence tomography (OCT). The OCT examination was performed with a 3D-OCT 2000 instrument from Topcon Company in Japan. The fovea was scanned, and the PED height (PEDH), PED area (PEDA), PED volume (PEDV), and central foveal thickness (CFT) were measured. According to the OCT image features of PED, the affected eyes were divided into serous PED (sPED), fibrovascular PED (fPED), and hemorrhagic PED (hPED), and were grouped accordingly. Among the 42 eyes, 16 (38.1%, 16/42), 14 (33.3%, 14/42), and 12 (28.6%, 12/42) eyes were in the sPED group, fPED group, and hPED group, respectively. All patients received IVC treatment once a month for 3 consecutive months, and then on-demand treatment after assessment. BCVA and OCT were re-examined 3, 6, and 12 months after treatment, and the changes of BCVA, PEDH, PEDA, PEDV, and CFT in the affected eyes before and after treatment were compared, and repeated measures analysis of variance was used for statistical analysis. ResultsAt 12 months after treatment, the PEDH, PEDA and PEDV of the affected eyes in the sPED group, fPED group and hPED group were significantly lower than those before treatment, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The difference in the degree of improvement was －318.67±258.09 μm, －6.50±6.33 μm2, －1.95±1.78 μm3 in the hPED group; －119.31±224.13 μm, －0.86 ±5.00 μm2, －0.56±1.64 μm3 in the sPED group; fPED group were －53.93±92.51 μm, －0.76±2.54 μm2, －0.19±0.46 μm3. The improvement degree of the affected eyes in hPED group was significantly greater than that in sPED group and fPED group, and the difference was statistically significant (F=5.918, 6.029, 5.494; P＜0.05). Compared with the BCVA and CFT before treatment, 12 months after treatment, the difference was statistically significant in the fPED group and the hPED group (P＜0.05); there was no significant improvement in the sPED group (P＞0.05). There was no significant difference in the BCVA of the affected eyes in the three groups compared with those before treatment (F=0.817, 0.741, 0.848; P＞0.05). ConclusionConbercept can effectively improve or stabilize the visual function and anatomical morphology of eyes with type 1 MNV in nAMD with sPED, fPED and hPED, among which the anatomical effect is better for hPED.
Wet age-related macular degeneration (wAMD) is caused by choroidal neovascularization (CNV), which occurs when the choroidal new capillaries reach the RPE layer and photoreceptor cell layer through the ruptured Bruch membrane, leading to neovascularization bleeding, leakage, and scarring. In view of the important role of VEGF in the development of CNV, targeted therapy with various intraocular anti-VEGF drugs is the first-line treatment for wAMD. However, the efficacy of anti-VEGF drugs in the treatment of wAMD is affected by a variety of factors, and some patients still have problems such as unresponsiveness, drug resistence, tachyphylaxis, long-term repeated injections, and severe adverse effects. It is the direction of future researches to deeply explore the physiological and pathological process of wAMD, find the cause of CNV formation, and seek better therapies.
ObjectiveTo observe the effects of repeated intravitreal injections of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) drugs on vitreous macular interface (VMI) in patients with exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD).MethodsRetrospective study. Thirty-four exudative AMD patients who treated with intravitreal anti-VEGF drugs were included in this study. There were 26 males and 8 females. The age ranged from 50 to 80 years, with the average of (62.8±8.35) years. The eyes with at least 6 treatments during the 1-year follow-up were taken as the study eyes, and the eyes with no anti-VEGF drug treatment were the control eyes. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) examination was used to observe the VMI status of both eyes before treatment. Vitreous macular adhesion (VMA), macular epiretinal membrane (MEM), and complete vitreous detachment (C-PVD) were defined as abnormalities in VMI. The VMA was classified as focal (≤1500 μm) and broad (＞1500 μm) depending on the diameter of the vitreous and macular adhesions on the OCT images. Before treatment, there were 12 eyes with abnormal VMI in study eyes, including 8 eyes with broad VMA, 3 eyes with focal VMA, and 1 eye with MEM; 12 eyes with abnormal VMI in control eyes: broad VMA in 7 eyes, focal VMA in 2 eyes, C-PVD in 2 eyes, and MEM in 1 eye. The average follow-up time after treatment was 16.4 months. During the follow-up period, OCT was performed monthly in a follow-up mode. Comparing the changes on VMI between before and after treatment in both eyes of patients, respectively. The chi-square test was used to compare the difference on VMI. Because the number of samples was ＜40, Fisher's exact test was used for the analysis.ResultsAt the final follow-up, 12 eyes with abnormal VMI in the study eyes, including 5 eyes with broad VMA, 2 eyes with focal VMA, 3 eyes with C-PVD, and 2 eyes with MEM. There were 6 eyes altered comparing with baseline. In the control eyes, there were 13 eyes with abnormal VMI, including 5 eyes with broad VMA, 7 eyes with C-PVD, and 1 eye with MEM. A total of 6 eyes changed on VMI comparing with baseline. At the final follow-up, there was no significant difference on VMI changes between the study eyes and its corresponding control eyes (P=0.053). In all eyes, a total of 4 eyes changed from focal VMA to C-PVD at the final follow-up, accounting for 80.0% of the total focal VMA; 3 eyes changed from broad VMA to C-PVD, accounting for 21.4% of the total broad VMA.ConclusionsRepeated anti-VEGF treatment has little effect on VMI. Regardless of anti-VEGF therapy, eyes with focal VMA appears to be more prone to C-PVD than the broad one.
Epigenetics has been very hot in the research of biomedicine. In addition to genetic factors, the occurrence of a disease is also influenced by environmental factors. Retinal vascular diseases are a type of irreversible blind eye disease, such as age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. The retinal vessel changes are the major features of retinal vascular diseases, which are the result of interaction of multiple environmental factors and genes. Epigenetic modification mainly includes DNA methylation, histone modification, and non-coding RNA regulation. Epigenetic mechanisms mediate the effects of environmental factors on genes related to retinal vascular diseases, and affect the eventual development of the diseases. Therefore, ophthalmologists should keep eyes close on the role of epigenetics in retinal vascular diseases, track the progress of epigenetic methods in the treatment of retinal vascular diseases, and pay attention to the application prospects of epigenetics. Finding the epigenetic regulators of these diseases can not only deepen the understanding of the pathological mechanism of these diseases, but also provide new ideas for the diagnosis and treatment of these diseases.
Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) drugs, including monoclonal antibodies (such as bevacizumab and ranibizumab) and fusion protein agents (such as aflibercept and conbercept) have been clinically proven to be effective to treat exudative age-related macular degeneration AMD). However, there are still some patients do not or poorly respond to the initial anti-VEGF agents, usually after several injections, ophthalmologists may switch to another anti-VEGF agent. In general, switching of anti-VEGF agent is considered for recurrent AMD, AMD resistance to anti-VEGF treatments. Current switching protocols include the replacement of monoclonal antibodies with fusion protein agents, the replacement of fusion protein agents with monoclonal antibodies, the substitution of one monoclonal antibody with another one, and the replacement of monoclonal antibodies with fusion protein agents and switching back with monoclonal antibodies. However, current researches on the switching of anti-VEGF drugs for exudative AMD are mostly retrospective and single-arm studies, and there are some differences in the results of different studies. Therefore, for patients with exudative AMD who do not respond to or respond poorly to anti-VEGF drugs, the efficacy of switching of anti-VEGF drugs is uncertain right now. Switching of anti-VEGF agents may improve the retinal anatomical outcome of the affected eye but may not necessarily improve visual acuity. Thus it is an option in the clinical practice to treat AMD. To determine the benefits of above mentioned switching regimens, randomized controlled clinical trials with large sample number and long study period will be needed.
Choroidal neovascularization is the leading causes of central vision loss in wet age-related macular degeneration (wAMD) patients. Smoking not only aggravates the incidence and severity of the choroidal neovascularization of wAMD, but also affects the clinical treatment, making the prognosis worse. Nicotine, as an important harmful substance in tobacco, is an easily addictive and highly toxic alkaloid. Animal experiments and clinical studies have confirmed that nicotine can aggravate wAMD by mediating angiogenesis through nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, bone marrow blasts, inflammation, complement system, etc. Therefore, in order to early take appropriate intervention measures to prevent and delay the development, we should actively explore the exact pathogenesis by which nicotine aggravates the choroidal neovascularization.
ObjectiveTo observe the clinical efficiency of intravitreal Conbercept on exudative age-related macular degeneration (eAMD). MethodsThis is an open and prospective study without control trial. Twenty eyes from 20 patients (19 males and 1 female) with eAMD diagnosed by fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA) and indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) were enrolled in this study. Before the injection, best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of early treatment of diabetic retinopathy study (ETDRS), non-contact tonometer, ophthalmoscope, fundus photography, fundus fluorescein angiograph (FFA), indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) were examined. The initial average letters of ETDRS acuity were 41.20±22.61, range from 8 to 80. The initial average central retina thickness (CRT) was (345.25±131.96) μm, range from 152 to 770 μm.All affected eyes were treated with intravitreal conbercept 0.05 ml (10 mg/ml). The patients were followed up for 6 to 9 months, with the mean time of (7.35±0.99) months.The BCVA, CRT after treatment were compared with baseline using paired t-test. ResultsDuring the 1, 3, 6, 12 months after treatment and the latest follow up, the mean BCVA were all improved with statistically significant difference (t=5.85, 7.09, 7.44, 7.25; P < 0.05). At 1 month ater treatment, the mean BCVA was obviously improved in 6 eyes (30%), improved in 8 eyes (40%), stable in 6 eyes (30%). At latest follow up, the mean BCVA was obviously improved in 6 eyes (30%), improved in 9 eyes (45%), stable in 5 eyes (25%). During the 1, 3, 6, 12 months after treatment and the latest follow up, the mean CRT were all decreased with statistically significant difference (t=3.34, 3.78, 3.47, 3.44; P < 0.05). At latest follow up, the leakage in macula lutea disappeared in 6 eyes (30%), decreased in 11 eyes (55%) and increased in 3 eyes (15%). No adverse events such as secondary retinal detachment or endoophthalmitis were found during the follow-up duration. ConclusionIntravitreal conbercept is a safe and effective approach for eAMD, may improve visual acuity, exudation and macular edema.