Original ArticlesTear and serum soluble leukocyte activation markers in conjunctival allergic diseases
Section snippets
Patients and methods
Written informed consent was obtained from all patients or, in the case of minors, from their parents. Peripheral-blood and tear samples were collected from 13 normal volunteers (mean age, 21 ± 8 years; seven males, six females) and 62 patients affected by active inflammatory eye diseases: 11 with seasonal allergic conjunctivitis (mean age, 24 ± 7 years; six males, five females), 17 with vernal keratoconjunctivitis (mean age, 14.0 ± 6.1 years; 15 males, two females), seven with atopic
Results
Serum levels of eosinophil cationic protein and eosinophil neurotoxin were significantly higher compared with those in control subjects in seasonal allergic conjunctivitis, vernal keratoconjunctivitis, and atopic keratoconjunctivitis but not in giant papillary conjunctivitis (Table 1). Myeloperoxidase serum levels were not increased in any allergic condition. Soluble interleukin-2 receptor serum levels were significantly increased in both vernal and atopic keratoconjunctivitis. Serum values of
Discussion
Ocular allergic disorders can be differentiated by the severity of the patient’s signs and symptoms. The degree of local involvement of the inflammatory cells associated with these conditions—eosinophils, neutrophils and lymphocytes—may be evaluated by the assaying in biologic fluids of specific proteins released when these cells are activated. In this study, leukocyte activation markers were studied in tears and serum of allergic and nonallergic patients to establish the concentrations of
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