Tissue, tear, and serum IgE concentrations in vernal conjunctivitis.
Abnormal upper tarsal tissue from four patients with vernal conjunctivitis stained immunofluorescently contained abundant IgA-, IgD-, and IgE-forming plasma cells in two of four patients. These were absent in normal upper tarsal conjunctiva. The IgE levels of paired tear-serum samples of 11 patients with vernal conjunctivitis and ten control subjects were 130 ng/ml in patients that did nor differ significantly from the normal tear IgE value of 61 ng/ml. The serum IgE means of 1,031 ng/ml for patients and 201 ng/ml for normal subjects differed significantly (P less than .05). Tear and serum IgE values correlated significantly for both groups (P less than .01 for patients, P less than .05 for normal subjects). These findings are consistent with a hyperplasia of IgA, IgD, and IgE antibody-forming cells in tarsal conjunctiva of some patients with vernal conjunctivitis, and tear IgE levels being a function of serum IgE levels.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D003231:Conjunctivitis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D005143:Eyelids / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D010950:Plasma Cells / Q000276:immunology; D012621:Seasons; D013666:Tears / Q000276:immunology*
D007073:Immunoglobulin E