ArticlePloS one2022
Hyper-reflective retinal foci as possible in vivo imaging biomarker of microglia activation in von Hippel-Lindau disease.
Article in PloS one, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07716930 (Retina-Based Biomarkers in Epilepsy), which is not on this map. Cited by 9 papers.
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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.
Retina-Based Biomarkers in Epilepsy: Structural and Microvascular OCT Changes and Inflammatory Markers (sCD14, sCD163, CCL2, IL-1β) in Relation to Pathophysiology, Phenotype, Prognosis, and Drug-Resistant Epilepsy (DRE)
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- Transcriptomic Profiling of the Human Retina Reveals Inflammatory and Metabolic Signatures Associated With Clinical Severity After Retinal Detachment.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2026Article
- Article
- Photoreceptor loss does not recruit neutrophils despite strong microglial activation.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Foveal hyper-reflective vertical lines detected by optical coherence tomography: Imaging features, literature review and differential diagnoses.Graefe's archive for clinical and experimental ophthalmology = Albrecht von Graefes Archiv fur klinische und experimentelle Ophthalmologie · 2025Observational
- Retinal Hyperreflective Foci Are Biomarkers of Ocular Disease: A Scoping Review With Evidence From Humans and Insights From Animal Models.Journal of ophthalmology · 2025Review
- Imaging the eye as a window to brain health: frontier approaches and future directions.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2024Review
- New Prospects on Neuroimaging in Von Hippel Lindau Disease-A Narrative Review.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Hyper-reflective dots in optical coherence tomography imaging and inflammation markers in diabetic retinopathy.Journal of anatomy · 2023Article
- Association between inflammatory cytokines in the aqueous humor and hyperreflective foci on optical coherence tomography in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration and polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy.Frontiers in medicine · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposevon Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease is caused by a mutation of the VHL gene and characterized by the development of retinal hemangioblastomas (RH). Current pathophysiologic mechanisms of RH development and progression are still insufficient to predict RH behavior. VHL gene is involved in the cellular response to hypoxia and in many intracellular signaling pathways expressed both in angiogenesis and inflammation. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) allows to identify hyper-reflective retinal foci (HRF) known as aggregates of activated microglial cells as possible in vivo biomarker of local inflammation. The aim of the present study was to investigate the presence of HRF in patients with genetically confirmed VHL disease.
methodsIn this cross-sectional study, patients with VHL underwent complete ophthalmological examination and OCT with HRA + OCT Spectralis. HRF were manually identified and calculated in inner (IR), outer (OR) and full retina. Age-matched healthy subjects were enrolled as controls.
results113 eyes of 63 VHL patients and 56 eyes of 28 healthy subjects were evaluated. HRF number was significantly higher in VHL than in controls in IR (28.06 ± 7.50 vs 25.25 ± 6.64, p = 0.042). No difference was observed in OR and in full retina (OR: 7.73 ± 2.59 vs 7.95 ± 2.51, p = 0.599; full retina: 35.79 ± 8.77 vs 33.20 ± 7.47, p = 0.093).
conclusionThe increase of HRF, which mirror retinal microglial activation, characterizes VHL eyes. The role of activated microglia in the retina of VHL eyes needs to be better investigated, mainly considering local VHL disease manifestations.
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