Department of General Pathology, Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin, Al. Powstańców Wielkopolskich 72, 70-111, Szczecin, Poland.
First Department of Ophthalmology, Pomeranian Medical University, Al. Powstańców Wielkopolskich 72, 70-111, Szczecin, Poland.
Sci Rep. 2022 May 4;12(1):7225. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-11285-7.
Tear fluid cytokine levels may serve as biomarkers of innate immune system response against SARS-CoV-2 infection. Therefore, our aim was to analyze panel of selected inflammatory cytokines in tears of COVID-19 patients in relation to presence of SARS-CoV-2 viral load in conjunctival secretions. In this study concentrations of TNF-α, IL-1b, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12 p70, GM-CSF, and IFN-γ were determined by a magnetic bead assay in tear film collected from 232 symptomatic COVID-19 patients. SARS-CoV-2 ocular infection was confirmed based on positive conjunctival swab-based RT-PCR testing. Viral RNA in conjunctival sac was detected in 21 patients (9%). No relation between presence and the duration of ophthalmic symptoms and SARS-CoV-2 infection detected in conjunctival secretions was found. The tear film concentrations of IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-5, IL-8 and GM-CSF were found to be significantly greater among patients with positive conjunctival swab results as compared to the group negative for SARS-CoV-2 in conjunctival sac. Our current data depict a group of inflammatory mediators in human tears, which may play a significant role in ocular pathology of SARS-CoV-2 conjunctival infection.
泪液细胞因子水平可作为针对 SARS-CoV-2 感染的固有免疫系统反应的生物标志物。因此，我们的目的是分析 COVID-19 患者泪液中选定的炎症细胞因子谱与结膜分泌物中 SARS-CoV-2 病毒载量的关系。在这项研究中，通过磁珠测定法测定了 232 例有症状 COVID-19 患者泪膜中 TNF-α、IL-1b、IL-2、IL-4、IL-5、IL-6、IL-8、IL-10、IL-12 p70、GM-CSF 和 IFN-γ的浓度。基于结膜拭子的 RT-PCR 检测阳性，确认 SARS-CoV-2 眼部感染。在 21 名患者（9%）中检测到结膜囊中病毒 RNA。未发现眼部症状的存在和持续时间与结膜分泌物中检测到的 SARS-CoV-2 感染之间存在关系。与结膜囊中未检测到 SARS-CoV-2 的患者相比，结膜拭子结果阳性的患者的泪膜中 IFN-γ、TNF-α、IL-5、IL-8 和 GM-CSF 浓度明显更高。我们目前的数据描绘了一组人泪液中的炎症介质，这些介质可能在 SARS-CoV-2 结膜感染的眼部病理学中发挥重要作用。
