J Korean Ophthalmol Soc.  2008 Oct;49(10):1565-1571.

I-TAC Concentration in Tears of Dry Eye Patients and Its Correlation with Tear Surface Parameters

• Kim HG
• You IC
• Yoon KC

Abstract

PURPOSE
This study was performed to evaluate the level of I-TAC in tears of patients with dry eye syndrome and its correlation with the tear surface parameters.
METHODS
I-TAC levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in tear samples collected from 33 dry eye patients (16 patients with Sjogren syndrome and 17 patients with non-Sjogren syndrome) and 15 control subjects. The correlations between I-TAC levels and tear surface parameters including tear film break-up time (BUT), basal tear secretion, tear clearance rate (TCR), corneal sensation, keratoepitheliopathy and conjunctival goblet cell density were analyzed.
RESULTS
The mean levels of I-TAC were 717+/-377 pg/ml in patients with dry eye and 444+/-119 pg/ml in control subjects (P=0.003). The mean levels in Sjogren syndrome patients (1261+/-324 pg/ml) were significantly higher than those of non-Sjogren syndrome patients (614+/-131 pg/ml, P=0.003). I-TAC levels correlated significantly with basal tear secretion (P=0.006), TCR (P=0.007), keratoepitheliopathy (P=0.022) and goblet cell density (P<0.001), but did not correlate with BUT (P=0.110) and corneal sensation (P=0.090).
CONCLUSIONS
The level of I-TAC is elevated in tears of patients with dry eye syndrome including Sjogren syndrome. The level correlates with disease severity and tear surface parameters.

Keyword

Chemokine; Dry eye syndrome; I-TAC

MeSH Terms

Dry Eye Syndromes
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
Eye
Goblet Cells
Humans
Sensation
Sjogren's Syndrome
Tears

Figure

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  Figure 1. I-TAC levels in tears of Sjögren syndrome patients, non-Sjögren syndrome patients and control subjects. SS=Sjögren syndrome; Non-SS=Non-Sjögren syndrome;* p<0.05.

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  Figure 2. Correlation between I-TAC levels in tears of dry eye patients and tear surface parameters including tear break up time (A), basal tear secretion (B), tear clearance rate (C), corneal sensation (D), keratoepitheliopathy score (E) and conjunctival goblet cell density (F).

Reference

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