Immunocytochemical Study of Cells in the Vitreous of Proliferative Virteoretretinopathy

Purpose: To identify the cellular components of vitreous samples obtained during vit-rectomy for proliferative vitreoretinopathy(PVR).Methods: With the use of three intermediate filament (IF) proteins, vimentin, glialfibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), and cytokeratin (CK), cytocentrifuge slides of 14fresh vitreous aspirates were detected with immunohistochemical technique.Results: All the specimens contained epithelial-like proliferative cells with or withoutpigment and some membrane-like pieces. Immunocytochemical staining showed that76.0-90.0% cells stained for CK, 17.4-29.6% cells expressed GFAP, and 80.1-91.0% cells were positive for vimentin.Conclusions : Majority of cells in the vitreous samples originated from retinal pigmentepithelial cells (RPE) and glial cells in PVR. Expression of IF proteins may be determinedby tissue of origin and local microenvironment. Eye Science 1999 ; 15; 13 - 16.