Increased level of (1,3)-beta-D-glucan in tear fluid of mycotic keratitis.
OBJECTIVE
Increased concentration of (1,3)-beta-D-glucan, one of the major components of fungal cell walls, is detected in the serum of systemic fungal infection. In our study, the concentration of (1,3)-beta-D-glucan was measured in the tear fluid of patients with mycotic keratitis.


METHODS
Tear fluid was collected from patients with fungal keratitis (n = 4) and bacterial corneal ulcers (n = 4) with or without corneal scraping. In addition, tear fluid was collected from patients without corneal diseases.


RESULTS
The concentration of (1,3)-beta-D-glucan in tear fluid collected without corneal scraping was 4.0 +/- 3.5, 5.8 +/- 2.6, 184 +/- 128 pg/ml in the control, bacterial corneal ulcer, and mycotic keratitis samples respectively. The concentration of (1,3)-beta-D-glucan in tear fluid collected after scraping the corneal lesions with a tip of glass capillary was 4.4 +/- 1.3, 8.2 +/- 5.2 and >1,000 pg/ml in the control, bacterial ulcer, and mycotic keratitis samples respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
A significant increase in (1,3)-beta-D-glucan was detected in tear samples from patients with mycotic keratitis. Measuring the concentration of (1,3)-beta-D-glucan in tear fluid might be helpful in the diagnosis of mycotic keratitis.
Kaji
Yuichi
Y
Department of Ophthalmology, Tsukuba University Institute of Clinical Medicine, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan. kajiyuichi@hotmail.com
Hiraoka
Takahiro
T
Oshika
Tetsuro
T
D003320:Corneal Ulcer / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology; D015818:Eye Infections, Bacterial / Q000378:metabolism; D015821:Eye Infections, Fungal / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007634:Keratitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000382:microbiology*; D009994:Osmolar Concentration; D011509:Proteoglycans; D013666:Tears / Q000378:metabolism*; D047071:beta-Glucans / Q000378:metabolism*
D011509:Proteoglycans; D047071:beta-Glucans; C010770:polysaccharide-K