Shoji Jun, Inada Noriko, Sawa Mitsuru
Department of Ophthalmology, Nihon University School of Medicine, Itabashi, Tokyo, Japan.
Jpn J Ophthalmol. 2006 May-Jun;50(3):195-204. doi: 10.1007/s10384-005-0319-4.
To investigate differences in the cytokine and chemokine profiles of patients with vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) or giant papillary conjunctivitis (GPC).
The study included six patients (six eyes) with VKC, five patients (five eyes) with GPC, and five healthy volunteers (five eyes) as controls. None of the patients had received any anti-allergic treatment prior to this study. One patient with VKC was given a tear examination to evaluate the effect of anti-inflammatory treatment with a steroid on the tear cytokine profile about the treatment. Tear samples were collected with the Schirmer I method, using filter paper. Tear samples were eluted and analyzed by an antibody array system for inflammation-related factors, including cytokines and chemokines.
In the patients with VKC, four inflammation-related factors, eotaxin, interleukin (IL)-11, monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1, and macrophage-colony stimulating factor (M-CSF) increased to four times the values in the control group, and seven inflammation-related factors, eotaxin-2, IL-4, IL-6, interleukin-6 soluble receptor (IL-6sR), IL-7, macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1delta, and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMP)-2, increased to eight times the control values. In the patients with GPC, three inflammation-related factors, IL-6, M-CSF, and monokine-induced gamma interferon (MIG), increased to four times those in the control group, and five inflammation-related factors, eotaxin-2, IL-6sR, IL-11, MIP-1delta, and TIMP-2, increased to eight times the control values. The increase in IL-6sR relative to the controls was statistically significant in both the VKC and GPC groups. The increase in eotaxin-2 was significant only in the VKC group, and that in TIMP-2 was significant only in the GPC group, compared with the controls.
The present study demonstrated the presence of crucial cytokines, soluble cytokine receptors, and chemokines in tears of patients with VKC and GPC. In particular, IL-6sR increased significantly in both the VKC and GPC groups, whereas eotaxin-2 increased significantly only in the VKC group. Thus, IL-6sR may play an important pathophysiological role in giant papillary proliferation in VKC and GPC, and eotaxin-2 may play an important role in eosinophilic inflammation in VKC.
研究春季角结膜炎（VKC）或巨乳头性结膜炎（GPC）患者细胞因子和趋化因子谱的差异。
该研究纳入6例VKC患者（6只眼）、5例GPC患者（5只眼）以及5名健康志愿者（5只眼）作为对照。所有患者在本研究之前均未接受过任何抗过敏治疗。对1例VKC患者进行泪液检查，以评估类固醇抗炎治疗对泪液细胞因子谱的影响。使用滤纸通过Schirmer I法收集泪液样本。将泪液样本洗脱并通过抗体芯片系统分析炎症相关因子，包括细胞因子和趋化因子。
在VKC患者中，4种炎症相关因子，即嗜酸性粒细胞趋化因子、白细胞介素（IL）-11、单核细胞趋化蛋白（MCP）-1和巨噬细胞集落刺激因子（M-CSF）增加至对照组值的4倍，7种炎症相关因子，即嗜酸性粒细胞趋化因子-2、IL-4、IL-6、白细胞介素-6可溶性受体（IL-6sR）、IL-7、巨噬细胞炎性蛋白（MIP）-1δ和金属蛋白酶组织抑制剂（TIMP）-2增加至对照组值的8倍。在GPC患者中，3种炎症相关因子，即IL-6、M-CSF和单核因子诱导的γ干扰素（MIG）增加至对照组值的4倍，5种炎症相关因子，即嗜酸性粒细胞趋化因子-2、IL-6sR、IL-11、MIP-1δ和TIMP-2增加至对照组值的8倍。相对于对照组，IL-6sR在VKC组和GPC组中的增加均具有统计学意义。与对照组相比，嗜酸性粒细胞趋化因子-2仅在VKC组中显著增加，而TIMP-2仅在GPC组中显著增加。
本研究证明VKC和GPC患者泪液中存在关键的细胞因子、可溶性细胞因子受体和趋化因子。特别是，IL-6sR在VKC组和GPC组中均显著增加，而嗜酸性粒细胞趋化因子-2仅在VKC组中显著增加。因此，IL-（6sR）可能在VKC和GPC的巨乳头增殖中起重要的病理生理作用，而嗜酸性粒细胞趋化因子-2可能在VKC的嗜酸性粒细胞炎症中起重要作用。
