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Conjunctival epithelium expression of HLA-DR in dry eye patients
K Tsubota1, T Fujihara, K Saito
1Department of Ophthalmology, Tokyo Dental College, Chiba, Japan. kazuo@eyebank.or.jp
Purpose:
To compare conjunctival epithelium expression of HLA-DR and ICAM-1 with tear dynamics and ocular surface parameters.
Methods:
Brush cytology and flow cytometry were used to quantitatively analyze HLA-DR and ICAM-1 expression in 28 dry eye patients.
Results:
HLA-DR was expressed in 66% of the conjunctival cells of dry eye patients. This expression correlates with that of ICAM-1, as well as with the Schirmer test results (p < 0.05).
Conclusion:
This study confirmed that dry eye consists not only of ocular surface desiccation, but also of upregulation of the HLA-DR and ICAM-1 molecule in the conjunctival epithelium, possibly resulting in increased inflammation.