Prünte C., Haufschild T., Flammer J.

Universitäts-Augenklinik Basel, Schweiz

Objective: The pathogenesis of Central Serous Chorioretinopathy (CSC) is still largely unknown. Recent angiographic studies suggest the possible involvement of choroidal vascular dysregulation in the pathogenesis of CSC. The peptide endothelin-1 (ET-1), produced and released by endothelial cells, is the most potent known physiological vasoactive substance. The aim of this study was to investigate whether CSC-patients have pathologic ET-1 plasma levels which could explain some of the changes in the choroidal microcirculation in these patients.
Method: In 14 consecutive patients with acute CSC (mean age 42.0±1.9 yrs) and 14 age- and sexmatched normals (mean age 42.2±1.8 yrs) ET-1 plasma levels were determined by specific radioimmunoassay after a 30 minutes rest in lying position. All CSC-patients had acute visual disturbances, localized neurosensory detachment and typical angiographic changes at the time of ET-1 determination. All values are expressed as mean ± SEM, statistical evaluation was done with a independent sample ttest (2-tailed).
Results: Plasma ET-1 levels were markedly and significantly (p<0.001) elevated in patients with CSC (2.76±0.17; min: 1.94, max: 4.37) compared to the normal group (1.50±0.10; min: 0.68, max: 2.13).
Conclusions: These findings show that plasma ET-1 levels are significantly increased in patients with CSC. Since ET-1 is a potent vasoactive substance in the arterial and venous parts of the microcirculation these results could explain the changes in the choroidal lobular blood-flow demonstrated in CSC, providing a further hint for the possible involvement of microvascular dysregulation in the pathogenesis of CSC.

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