Abstract:[Abstract] Objective To investigate the relationship between aqueous humor apelin (Apelin) and δ-like ligand 4 (DLL4) expression levels in patients with neovascular glaucoma (NVG) and clinical stage and efficacy. Methods 96 NVG patients who were admitted to our hospital from January 2022 to March 2024 (NVG group) and 96 cataract patients who underwent cataract surgery in our hospital during the same period (control group) were selected, NVG patients were divided into stage I group (22 cases), stage II group (47 cases) and stage III group (27 cases) according to the clinical stage, patients were divided into ineffective group (20 cases) and effective group (76 cases) according to efficacy. Aqueous humor Apelin and DLL4 levels were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The influencing factors of the efficacy of NVG patients were analyzed by multivariate unconditional Logistic regression analysis, the evaluation efficacy of aqueous humor Apelin and DLL4 levels on the efficacy of NVG patients was analyzed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results Compared with control group, aqueous humor Apelin and DLL4 levels in NVG group were increased (P<0.05). Aqueous humor Apelin and DLL4 levels in stage I group, stage II group and stage III group increased in turn (P<0.05). The effective rate of 96 NVG patients was 79.17% (76/96), compared with effective group, aqueous humor Apelin and DLL4 levels in ineffective group increased (P<0.05). Clinical stage III, high intraocular pressure, high Apelin and high DLL4 were independent risk factors for ineffective treatment in NVG patients (P<0.05). The area under the curve of the combined evaluation of aqueous humor Apelin and DLL4 levels in evaluating the efficacy of NVG patients was 0.874, which was greater than 0.790 and 0.786 of aqueous Apelin and DLL4 levels alone (P<0.05). Conclusion Aqueous humor Apelin and DLL4 levels in NVG patients increase, which are relate to the increase of clinical stage and poor efficacy, the combination of aqueous humor Apelin and DLL4 levels is more effective in evaluating the efficacy of NVG patients.
