Chonnam Med J.  2006 Apr;42(1):39-43.

Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha, Interleukin-6 and Interleukin-8 Levels in Tears of Patients with Keratoconus

• You IC
• Heo H
• Yoon KC
• Park YG
• Jung YD

Abstract

To investigate whether chronic inflammatory process is involved in the pathogenesis of keratoconus, the levels of tumor nerosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) were determined in tears of patients with keratoconus. TNF-alpha, IL-6 and IL-8 levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in tear samples obtained from 9 keratoconus patients and 5 control subjects. The relative expression of TNF-alpha, IL-6 was evaluated in conjunctival biopsy specimens using immuno-histochemical staining. The mean levels of TNF-alpha, IL-6 and IL-8 were 5.31+/-3.67, 5.82+/-2.26 and 480.10+/-141.80 pg/ml respectively in keratoconus patients, whereas they were 4.95+/-3.04 (p=0.89), 5.30+/-1.94 (p=0.69) and 433.13+/-154.01 (p=0.44) pg/ml in the control subjects, revealing no differences between both groups. Immunohistochemical staining showed no positive staining for TNF-alpha and Il-6 in keratoconus patients. These findings indicate that the pathogenesis of keratoconus may not involve chronic inflammatory events.

Keyword

Keratoconus; Tear; Tumor necrosis factor-alpha; Interleukin-6; Interleukin-8

MeSH Terms

Biopsy
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
Humans
Interleukin-6*
Interleukin-8*
Keratoconus*
Tears*
Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha*
Interleukin-6
Interleukin-8
Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha