ocular rosacea and tear enzymes

Written by David Pascoe on October 17, 2005 in Ocular Rosacea with 0 Comments

Group IIA phospholipase A2 concentration of tears in patients with ocular rosacea

Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica. Volume 83, Issue 4 Page 483-486, August 2005

Kari O, Aho VV, Peltonen S, Saari JM, Kari M, Maatta M, Collan Y, Saari KM, Department of Allergology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.

Purpose: To determine the concentration of group IIA phospholipase A2 (GIIAPLA2) in tears of patients with ocular rosacea, and to compare it with GIIAPLA2 concentration in tears of age-matched healthy controls.

Methods: The GIIAPLA2 concentration in tears was measured with a time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay in 21 patients with ocular rosacea (mean age 55.6±9.2 years) and in 21 normal subjects (mean age 53.4±8.2 years). Conjunctival brush cytology was carried out and eosinophils, neutrophils, lymphocytes, squamous epithelial cells, columnar epithelial cells, metaplastic changes and goblet cells were calculated separately.

Results: The GIIAPLA2 concentration in tears was statistically significantly lower in patients with ocular rosacea (31.0±18.4 µg/ml, p=0.0099) and, more specifically, in patients who had dry eye (25.8±15.1 µg/ml, p=0.0034), compared to that in normal controls. There was no correlation between the GIIAPLA2 content of tears and the conjunctival cells collected by the brush cytology.

Conclusion: The tears of patients with dry eye symptoms due to ocular rosacea have decreased GIIAPLA2 content. The pathogenic importance of this finding is discussed.