title: Clinical Usefulness of Monitoring Expression Levels ofCCL24(Eotaxin-2) mRNA on the Ocular Surface in Patients with Vernal Keratoconjunctivitis and Atopic Keratoconjunctivitis.
abstract: Purpose. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical efficacy of using expression levels ofCCL24(eotaxin-2) mRNA on the ocular surface as a biomarker in patients with vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) and atopic keratoconjunctivitis (AKC).Methods. Eighteen patients with VKC or AKC (VKC/AKC group) and 12 control subjects (control group) were enrolled in this study. The VKC/AKC clinical score was determined by objective findings in patients by using the 5-5-5 exacerbation grading scale. All subjects underwent modified impression cytology and specimens were obtained from the upper tarsal conjunctiva. Expression levels ofCCL24(eotaxin-2) mRNA on the ocular surface were determined using real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction.Results. The VKC group was divided into two subgroups, depending on the clinical score: the active stage subgroup with 100 points or more of clinical scores and the stable stage subgroup with 100 points or less.CCL24(eotaxin-2) mRNA expression levels in the active VKC/AKC stage subgroup were significantly higher than those in the stable VKC/AKC subgroup and the control group. Clinical scores correlated significantly withCCL24(eotaxin-2) mRNA expression levels in the VKC group.Conclusions.CCL24(eotaxin-2) mRNA expression levels on the ocular surface are a useful biomarker for clinical severity of VKC/AKC.
authors.affiliation: Division of Ophthalmology, Department of Visual Sciences, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Yukiko
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0033-2868
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shiraki
authors.affiliation: Division of Ophthalmology, Department of Visual Sciences, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8957-3312
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shoji
authors.affiliation: Division of Ophthalmology, Department of Visual Sciences, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Noriko
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0486-1230
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Inada