A Review of the Cytokine IL-17 in Ocular Surface and Corneal Disease

ABSTRACT

Aim: To investigate the role of interleukin-17 in ocular surface and corneal disease. Ocular surface and corneal disease is a leading cause of blindness and is an ongoing challenge for the public health sector to implement effective therapies. The majority of cells in corneal lesions are derived primarily from neutrophils that induce inflammatory events that lead to tissue damage. One of the key pro-inflammatory cytokines is IL-17, and it has been investigated in order to facilitate the understanding of the pathogenesis of ocular surface lesion development.

Method: A review of the literature was performed through a systematic approach.

Results: IL-17 has been shown to exacerbate dry eye disease, viral and bacterial keratitis lesion severity, although it was found to be protective for Acanthamoeba. Antibodies developed to neutralize IL-17 have shown some promise in reducing the severity of some diseases.

Conclusion: IL-17 plays a role in the pathogenesis of ocular surface and corneal disease and targeting this cytokine may provide a useful treatment option in the future.

KEYWORDS:

• Keratitis
• ocular surface and corneal disease
• bacterial
• fungal
• viral Acanthamoeba
• herpes simplex
• dry eye

Literature Search

Databases searched included Ovid and Medline. There was no restriction placed on years of publication. Search terms used included keratitis, ocular surface disease and bacterial or fungal or viral or Acanthamoebal or dry eye disease. Non-English articles were excluded from the review. Abstracts that fit the search criteria were read and if found to be clinically relevant were include in the review.

Disclosure Statement

The authors report no commercial or proprietary interest in this article.

Additional information

Funding

No funding was provided for this research.