ArticleTranslational vision science & technology2019
Modelling Macular Edema: The Effect of IL-6 and IL-6R Blockade on Human Blood-Retinal Barrier Integrity In Vitro.
Article in Translational vision science & technology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 45 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effectiveness and safety of tocilizumab in refractory noninfectious uveitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Pooled it
- The role of IL-6-174 G/C polymorphism and intraocular IL-6 levels in the pathogenesis of ocular diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2020Pooled it
- Aqueous humour interleukin-6 and vision outcomes with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy.Eye (London, England) · 2024Trial
- Putative mechanisms of ocular inflammation in syphilis.Journal of ophthalmic inflammation and infection · 2026Review
- Interleukin 6 Inhibition With Vamikibart for Uveitic Macular Edema: The Phase 1 DOVETAIL Nonrandomized Clinical Trial.JAMA ophthalmology · 2026Article
- The role of interleukin-6 in diabetic retinal disease: pathophysiology and therapeutic targeting.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Recent advances in the diagnosis and treatment of refractory ocular inflammatory diseases: focus on uveitic macular edema, acute retinal necrosis, and vitreoretinal lymphoma.Japanese journal of ophthalmology · 2026Review
- The blood-retinal barrier in ocular pathologies: an updated narrative review.International ophthalmology · 2025Review
- Combined thermal and mild electrical stimulations modulate heat shock protein and VEGF in retinal pigment epithelial cells under high glucose.BMC research notes · 2025Article
- Advances in Modeling the Inner Blood-Retinal Barrier: From Static Tissue Cell Cultures to Microphysiological Systems.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Uveitic macular oedema in ocular tuberculosis patients in a non-endemic country: characteristics, management, and visual Outcomes.Eye (London, England) · 2025Article
- Rhodium nanozyme mitigates RPE degeneration and preserves vision in age-related macular degeneration via antioxidant and anti-inflammatory mechanisms.Materials today. Bio · 2024Article
- Diabetic Retinopathy: New Treatment Approaches Targeting Redox and Immune Mechanisms.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Human retinal endothelial cells express functional interleukin-6 receptor.Journal of ophthalmic inflammation and infection · 2023Article
- Inflammatory cytokines as mediators of retinal endothelial barrier dysfunction in non-infectious uveitis.Clinical & translational immunology · 2023Review
- Mechanisms of macular edema.Frontiers in medicine · 2023Review
- Diabetic Macular Edema: Current Understanding, Molecular Mechanisms and Therapeutic Implications.Cells · 2022Review
- Increased vitreous levels of B cell activation factor (BAFF) and soluble interleukin-6 receptor in patients with macular edema due to uveitis related to Behçet's disease and sarcoidosis.Graefe's archive for clinical and experimental ophthalmology = Albrecht von Graefes Archiv fur klinische und experimentelle Ophthalmologie · 2022Article
- The correlation between cytokine levels in the aqueous humor and the prognostic value of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy for treating macular edema resulting from retinal vein occlusion.Graefe's archive for clinical and experimental ophthalmology = Albrecht von Graefes Archiv fur klinische und experimentelle Ophthalmologie · 2021Article
- Systemic contribution of inflammatory mediators to the severity of diabetic and uveitic macular edema.Graefe's archive for clinical and experimental ophthalmology = Albrecht von Graefes Archiv fur klinische und experimentelle Ophthalmologie · 2021Observational
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
14 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeMacular edema (ME) is a leading cause of visual loss in a range of retinal diseases and despite the use of antivascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) agents, its successful treatment remains a major clinical challenge. Based on the indirect clinical evidence that interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a key additional candidate mediator of ME, we interrogated the effect of IL-6 on blood-retinal barrier (BRB) integrity in vitro.
methodsHuman retinal pigment epithelial cell (ARPE-19) and human retinal microvascular endothelial cell (HRMEC) monolayers were used to mimic the outer and inner BRB, respectively. Their paracellular permeability was assessed by measuring the passive permeation of 40 kDa fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-dextran across confluent cells in the presence of IL-6. Transendothelial/epithelial electrical resistance (TEER) then was measured and the distribution of the tight junction protein ZO-1 was assessed by immunofluorescence using confocal microscopy.
resultsTreatment with IL-6 for 48 hours significantly increased the diffusion rate of FITC-dextran, decreased TEER, and disrupted the distribution of ZO-1 in ARPE-19 cells, which constitutively express the IL-6 transmembrane receptor, and this was reversed with IL-6R blockade. In contrast, IL-6 did not affect the paracellular permeability, TEER, or ZO-1 distribution in HRMECs.
conclusionsThese in vitro data support the hypothesis that IL-6 reversibly disrupts the integrity of ARPE-19 cells, but it does not affect HRMECs. TRANSLATIONAL RELEVANCE: IL-6 is a candidate therapeutic target in the treatment of outer BRB driven ME.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.