Tear Mediators in Corneal Ectatic Disorders

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 11; no. 4; p. e0153186
• Main Authors: Pásztor, Dorottya, Kolozsvári, Bence Lajos, Csutak, Adrienne, Berta, András, Hassan, Ziad, Ujhelyi, Bernadett, Gogolák, Péter, Fodor, Mariann
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 13-04-2016; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Astigmatism; Asymmetry; Biology and Life Sciences; Biomarkers; Chemokines; Cornea; Cornea - metabolism; Corneal Diseases - diagnosis; Corneal Diseases - metabolism; Corneal Topography; Cross-Sectional Studies; Cytokines; Degeneration; Diagnosis, Differential; Disease; Eye; Female; Gelatinase B; Genetic aspects; Growth factors; Humans; Inhibitors; Interleukins; Keratoconus; Keratoconus - diagnosis; Keratoconus - metabolism; Ligands; Male; Matrix metalloproteinase; Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 - metabolism; Medicine; Medicine and Health Sciences; Metalloproteinase; Middle Aged; Nerve growth factor; Patients; Physiological aspects; Radius of curvature; Studies; t-Plasminogen activator; Tearing; Tears; Tears - metabolism; Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 1; Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-1 - metabolism; Topography; Tumor necrosis factor-TNF; Hungary
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0153186

To compare the concentrations of 11 tear mediators in order to reveal the biochemical difference between pellucid marginal degeneration (PMD) and keratoconus (KC).
We have designed a cross-sectional study in which patients with corneal ectasia based on slit-lamp biomicroscopy and Pentacam HR (keratometry values (K1, K2, Kmax), astigmatism, minimal radius of curvature (Rmin), corneal thickness (Apex and Min), indices (surface variation, vertical asymmetry, keratoconus, central keratoconus, height asymmetry and decentration)) were enrolled. Eyes of keratoconic patients were similar to the PMD patients in age and severity (K2, Kmax and Rmin). Non-stimulated tear samples were collected from nine eyes of seven PMD patients, 55 eyes of 55 KC patients and 24 eyes of 24 healthy controls. The mediators' (interleukin -6, -10, chemokine ligand 5, -8, -10, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) -9, -13, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMP)-1, tissue plasminogen activator, plasminogen activator inhibitor, nerve growth factor) concentrations were measured using Cytometric Bead Array.
MMP-9 was the only mediator which presented relevant variances between the two patient groups (p = 0.005). The ratios of MMP-9 and TIMP-1 were 2.45, 0.40 and 0.23 in PMD, KC and the controls, respectively.
As far as we are aware, this is the first study that aims to reveal the biochemical differences between PMD and KC. Further studies of biomarkers to investigate the precise role of these mediators need to be defined, and it is important to confirm the observed changes in a larger study to gain further insights into the molecular alterations in PMD.