title: [Evaluation of chemokines in tears of patients with infectious keratitis].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the chemokine profile in tears of patients with infectious keratitis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Subjects were 32 eyes of 16 patients with infectious keratitis and 5 eyes of 5 healthy volunteers as a control. The patients with infectious keratitis were classified into two groups of eyes: 10 with bacterial keratitis and 6 with Acanthamoeba keratitis. Tear fluid was obtained from both eyes of the patients with infectious keratitis and from the right eyes of the control subjects using filter paper. Chemokine concentration (unit: Odu/mm2) and its profile in tears was analyzed using an antibody-array.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In terms of chemokine profile in the bacterial keratitis group, the expression volume of interleukin-8 (IL-8) and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) in the diseased eyes was significantly higher than in the healthy eyes (p < 0.05). The expression volume of mucosae-associated epithelial chemokines (MECs) in the diseased eyes of the bacterial keratitis group was significantly lower than in the healthy eyes of that group (p < 0.05). In the Acanthamoeba keratitis group, chemokines were not significantly increased in the diseased eyes compared with those in the healthy eyes. However, MCP-1 was increased in tears of the Acanthamoeba keratitis group. Regarding the chemokine ratio, the IL-8/MEC ratio in the diseased eyes of the Pseudomonas keratitis group and the MCP-1/IL-8 in the diseased eyes of the Acanthamoeba keratitis group showed a significantly high level (p < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We concluded that the analyses of the chemokine profile and chemokine ratio in the tears of infectious keratitis patients is useful as a clinical tear laboratory test to interpret the pathologic condition of infectious keratitis
authors.affiliation: Division of Ophthalmology, Department of Visual Sciences, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan. qqfv3dsd@tuba.ocn.ne.jp
authors.forename: Shinsuke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hori
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shoji
authors.forename: Noriko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Inada
authors.forename: Mitsuru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sawa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000906:Antibodies / Q000378:metabolism; D018925:Chemokines / Q000378:metabolism*; D015817:Eye Infections / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007634:Keratitis / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D013666:Tears / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D018925:Chemokines