Investigating the Relationship between Serum Interleukin-17 Levels and Systemic Immune-Mediated Disease in Patients with Dry Eye Syndrome.
- Author:
Joo Youn OH
1
;
Mee Kum KIM
;
Hyuk Jin CHOI
;
Jung Hwa KO
;
Eun Joo KANG
;
Hyun Ju LEE
;
Won Ryang WEE
;
Jin Hak LEE
Author Information
- Publication Type:Original Article ; Comparative Study
- Keywords: Chronic graft-versus-host disease; Dry eye syndromes; Interleukin-17; Rheumatoid arthritis; Sjogren's syndrome
- MeSH: Adult; Biological Markers/blood; Conjunctiva/*pathology; Diagnosis, Differential; Dry Eye Syndromes/*blood/diagnosis/immunology; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Female; Humans; *Immunity, Innate; Interleukin-17/*blood; Male; Middle Aged
- From:Korean Journal of Ophthalmology 2011;25(2):73-76
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
- Abstract: PURPOSE: To investigate the association between dry eye syndrome (DE) and serum levels of interleukin (IL)-17 in patients with systemic immune-mediated diseases. METHODS: IL-17 and IL-23 levels were measured in the sera of patients whose tear production was <5 mm on the Schirmer test. Subjects included patients with chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), Sjogren's syndrome (SS), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and no systemic disease. Corneal/conjunctival fluorescein staining was scored and the correlation between the score and the IL-17 level was evaluated. RESULTS: A strong correlation existed between IL-17 level and the type of systemic disease. IL-17 was significantly elevated in patients with chronic GVHD compared to those with RA and SS. IL-17 was not detectable in patients with SLE or in those without systemic disease. IL-23 was not detected in any of the subjects. IL-17 was significantly increased in patients with high fluorescein staining scores. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that IL-17 is involved in the pathogenesis of DE in patients with systemic immune-mediated diseases.
