title: The ocular surface: from physiology to the ocular allergic diseases.
abstract: Allergic conjunctivitis (AC) is an inflammation of the conjunctiva secondary to an immune response to exogenous antigens, usually called allergens. In fact, AC is a syndrome that involves the entire ocular surface, including conjunctiva, lids, cornea, and tear film. The signs and symptoms of AC have a meaningful effect on comfort and patient health, and could be influenced by environment, genetics and immune regulation mechanisms, all of which work together in a complex immunological homeostasis. Dysregulation in such immune responses could turn into a variety of ocular allergic diseases (OAD). This review describes some of the current understanding of cellular and molecular pathways involved in different OAD.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Farmacobiología, Centro de Investigaciones Avanzadas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, México, DF. mcjimenezm@institutodeoftalmologia.org.
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Galicia-Carreón
authors.forename: Concepción
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Santacruz
authors.forename: Enrique
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: María C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Jiménez-Martínez
mesh_terms: D000485:Allergens / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000276:immunology; D003228:Conjunctiva / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D003233:Conjunctivitis, Allergic / Q000276:immunology*; D003315:Cornea / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D018450:Disease Progression; D005123:Eye / Q000294:innervation; D006801:Humans; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000276:immunology; D007634:Keratitis / Q000276:immunology*; D009479:Neuropeptides / Q000502:physiology; D011984:Sensory Receptor Cells / Q000502:physiology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D050916:TRPV Cation Channels / Q000502:physiology; D013666:Tears / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens; D009479:Neuropeptides; D050916:TRPV Cation Channels; C494482:TRPV1 protein, human; D007073:Immunoglobulin E
keywords: Allergic conjunctivitis; CD4+ T cells; Ocular allergic diseases; Tregs