title: Interleukin-8 concentrations in conjunctival epithelium brush cytology samples correlate with neutrophil, eosinophil infiltration, and corneal damage.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate whether interleukin-8 (IL-8) and RANTES (regulated on activation, normal T-cell expressed and secreted) concentrations in the supernatants of conjunctival epithelial samples from patients with vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) correlate with the number of infiltrating eosinophils or neutrophils and with the severity of corneal lesions.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-four patients with VKC, 5 patients with seasonal allergic conjunctivitis, and 10 volunteers without allergic diseases were enrolled in this study. Conjunctival epithelial cells were collected by brush cytology and the number of inflammatory cells was counted. The chemokine expression in the cells was investigated by immunocytochemistry and the chemokine concentrations of the cell suspensions were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The percentages of eosinophils and neutrophils in cell suspensions from VKC patients with corneal erosion or ulcer were higher than those from subjects with clear corneas or superficial punctate keratopathy. IL-8 concentrations in the supernatant of samples correlated significantly with the percentages of neutrophils and eosinophils in paired cell suspensions. No correlation was observed between RANTES and the percentages of eosinophils. Positive staining for IL-8 was observed in the cytosol of conjunctival epithelial cells.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  IL-8 in the extracellular space of the conjunctival epithelium may play a role in the recruitment of neutrophils and possibly eosinophils and in the pathogenesis of corneal damage in severe allergic diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Tachikawa Hospital, KKR, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Miyoshi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fukagawa
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shimmura
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fujishima
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takano
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Takamura
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsubota
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Oguchi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D018946:Chemokine CCL5 / Q000378:metabolism; D002648:Child; D003228:Conjunctiva / Q000378:metabolism*; D003233:Conjunctivitis, Allergic / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D003320:Corneal Ulcer / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D003584:Cytological Techniques; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D004804:Eosinophils / Q000276:immunology*; D004848:Epithelium / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D016209:Interleukin-8 / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D020556:Neutrophil Infiltration
chemical_list: D018946:Chemokine CCL5; D016209:Interleukin-8