RT Journal Article
T1 Inflammatory Molecules in the Tears of Patients with Keratoconus
A1 Lema Gesto, María Isabel
A1 Durán, Juan A.
K1 Keratoconus
K1 Interleukin-6
K1 Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
K1 Matrix Metalloproteinase 9
AB Purpose: To determine levels of a panel of inflammatory molecules and matrix metalloproteinases in the tears of patients with keratoconus. Design: A prospective, case-control study. Participants: Twenty-eight patients (1 eye from each) diagnosed with keratoconus at the Instituto Galego de Oftalmoloxía, Santiago de Compostela, Spain, during the period from September 2001 to June 2002, and 20 normal control subjects (1 eye each) were studied. Methods: Patients with keratoconus were examined in a routine fashion, and keratometric readings were taken to monitor the degree of ectasia. Fifteen microliters of tears was collected by capillary flow from each eye. Main Outcome Measures: The concentrations of cytokines (interleukin-4 [IL-4], IL-6, IL-10, and tumor necrosis factor α [TNF-α]), cell adhesion molecules (intercellular adhesion molecule 1 and vascular cell adhesion molecule 1), and matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) were measured by enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent assay. Results: Patients with keratoconus initially had significantly higher levels of IL-6 (6.7 [4.8-10.8] pg/ml vs. 2.2 [1.0-4.1] pg/ml in control subjects [P<0.0001]), TNF-α (3.8 [2.9-14.4] pg/ml vs. 1.8 [1.5-2.3] pg/ml in control subjects [P<0.0001]), and MMP-9 (66.5 [49.2-139.3]ng/ml vs. 6.1 [3.9-8.3] ng/ml in control subjects. The extent of the increase was found to be associated with the severity of keratoconus. Conclusions: Interleukin-6, TNF-α, and MMP-9 are overexpressed in the tears of patients with keratoconus, indicating that the pathogenesis of keratoconus may involve chronic inflammatory events. © 2005 by the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
PB American Academy of Ophthalmology | Elsevier
SN 0161-6420
YR 2005
FD 2005
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10347/46718
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10347/46718
LA eng
NO Lema, I., & Durán, J. A. (2005). Inflammatory molecules in the tears of patients with keratoconus. Ophthalmology, 112(4), 654-659. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.OPHTHA.2004.11.050
DS Minerva
RD 23 may 2026