Department of Ophthalmology, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, People's Hospital of Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China (mainland).
Department of Ophthalmology, Hangzhou Red Cross Hospital, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China (mainland).
Med Sci Monit. 2018 Oct 24;24:7595-7602. doi: 10.12659/MSM.912010.
BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to analyze tear inflammatory cytokines of different subclasses of dry eye disease (DED) patients using Luminex technology. MATERIAL AND METHODS Forty-five DED patients including 20 Sjogren syndrome aqueous tear deficiency (SS-ATD) patients, 20 non-Sjogren syndrome aqueous tear deficiency (NSS-ATD) patients, 15 meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) patients, and 15 normal participants were enrolled in this study. Concentrations of 11 inflammatory cytokines in tear samples of study participants were measured by Luminex assay; ELISA assay was further applied for validation. RESULTS The levels of cytokines were mostly increased (TNF-α, IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-12 P70, IL-13, IFN-γ, and MIP-1α) in DED patients compared with normal participants. And the levels of TNF-α, IL-6, IL-8, and IL-12P70 were significantly elevated in tears of the patient groups compared to tears of participants in the normal group (P<0.05). Statistical differences were also observed among the patient groups (SS-ATD, NSS-ATD, and MGD) for the level of IL-8 and TNF-α. The results of ELISA assay demonstrated the consistence with Luminex assay, confirming the practicality of Luminex technology for the analysis of multiple cytokines in DED patient tears. CONCLUSIONS The levels of inflammatory cytokines were mostly elevated in DED patients, and statistical differences of some cytokines were also found between SS-ATD, NSS-ATD, and MGD groups, suggesting that inflammatory cytokines could be potential supplements for the diagnosis of DED subclasses and therapeutic targets for DED patients.
本研究旨在利用 Luminex 技术分析不同类别的干眼（DED）患者的泪液炎症细胞因子。
本研究纳入 45 例 DED 患者，包括 20 例干燥综合征性水样液缺乏（SS-ATD）患者、20 例非干燥综合征性水样液缺乏（NSS-ATD）患者、15 例睑板腺功能障碍（MGD）患者和 15 例正常对照者。通过 Luminex assay 检测研究参与者泪液样本中 11 种炎症细胞因子的浓度；进一步应用 ELISA assay 进行验证。
与正常对照组相比，DED 患者的细胞因子水平大多升高（TNF-α、IL-1α、IL-1β、IL-6、IL-8、IL-12 P70、IL-13、IFN-γ 和 MIP-1α）。与正常对照组相比，患者组的 TNF-α、IL-6、IL-8 和 IL-12P70 水平明显升高（P<0.05）。此外，在 SS-ATD、NSS-ATD 和 MGD 患者组之间，IL-8 和 TNF-α 的水平也存在统计学差异。ELISA assay 的结果与 Luminex assay 一致，证实了 Luminex 技术分析 DED 患者泪液中多种细胞因子的实用性。
DED 患者的炎症细胞因子水平大多升高，且 SS-ATD、NSS-ATD 和 MGD 组之间的某些细胞因子水平也存在统计学差异，提示炎症细胞因子可能是 DED 亚类诊断的潜在补充，也是 DED 患者的治疗靶点。
