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ABSTRACT
Purpose
To demonstrate the tear IgE (measured/exuded) ratio (R) as a useful biological marker of ocular allergy in order to distinguish severe from less severe inflammatory status.
Methods
Tear samples and sera from 78 ocular allergy patients and 19 control subjects were analyzed. Total IgE and albumin were measured for calculating the tear IgE-R defining two subgroups (SG) of samples: R ≥ 4-SG and R < 4-SG. Eosinophil cationic protein, Th1 and Th2 cytokines (IFN-γ, IL-4, −5, −6, −8 and −10) and protein electrophoretic profiles were also investigated in tears.
Results
The R < 4-SG compared to the R ≥ 4-SG shows higher levels of tear albumin, eosinophil cationic protein, and Th1 and Th2 cytokines. Moreover, each subgroup presents a specific protein profile.
Conclusion
This study showed that an IgE-R lower than four must be carefully interpreted as a warning sign of a severe inflammatory context and should be also associated with an exploration of immunological profile.
Abbreviations
| AKC | = | atopic keratoconjunctivitis |
| CTL | = | control group |
| CXCL8 | = | C-X-C Motif Chemokine Ligand 8 |
| DTT | = | dithiothreitol |
| EAACI | = | European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology |
| ECP | = | eosinophil cationic protein |
| e-IgE | = | exuded IgE |
| IgA-HCs | = | immunoglobulin A-heavy chains-LCs: immunoglobulin light chains |
| Lacto | = | lactoferrin |
| LOD | = | limits of detection |
| Lyso-C | = | lysozyme-C |
| m-IgE | = | measured IgE |
| OA | = | ocular allergy |
| OHS | = | ocular hypersensitivity |
| PAC | = | perennial allergic conjunctivitis |
| SAC | = | seasonal allergic conjunctivitis |
| SDS-PAGE | = | sodium dodecylsulfate –polyacrilamide gel electrophoresis |
| SEM | = | standard error of the mean |
| SG | = | subgroup |
| S-Alb | = | serum albumin |
| S-IgE | = | serum IgE |
| T-Alb | = | tear albumin |
| VKC | = | vernal keratoconjunctivitis |
| WAO | = | Word Allergy Organization |
| ZAG-2 | = | zinc-α2 glycoprotein |
Acknowledgments
The authors thank the biochemistry and flow cytometry platforms at the ‘Institut de la Vision’, and Dr Yvrick Zagar for his technical assistance and advices in using the Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer; they also thank Pr Guy Gorochov for the critical review of this manuscript and Linda Northup for her editing assistance.
Declaration of interest
The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.