Emmanuel Eric Pazo

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Differential Expression of Tear Lymphotoxin-Α, Immunoglobulin E, and Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 in Allergic Conjunctivitis-Associated Dry Eye

Xiting Jiao, Ning Gao, Dan Wang, Emmanuel Eric Pazo, Yuanyuan Qi, Yueni Ma, Chen Zhang, Ruibo Yang

Current Eye Research, 2025 · article · doi:10.1080/02713683.2025.2549298 · cited by 4

Ocular surface & dry eye

Abstract

Purpose To evaluate the expression differences of tear lymphotoxin-α (LT-α), total immunoglobulin E (IgE), and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) in seasonal/perennial allergic conjunctivitis-associated dry eye (S/PAC-DE) and their clinical relevance, probing the underlying pathogenesis of S/PAC-DE.Methods This study enrolled 37 S/PAC-DE patients, 23 dry eye (DE) patients, and 24 healthy controls (HC). Assessing the clinical parameters, tear LT-α, total IgE, MMP-9, and nine other inflammatory cytokines in the three groups. Correlations between tear cytokines and clinical parameters were also analyzed.Results Tear LT-α levels were significantly lower in S/PAC-DE compared to DE and HC groups. Tear total IgE, TNF-α, and MMP-9 levels were significantly upregulated in the S/PAC-DE group than those in the DE (all p < 0.001) and HC groups (p = 0.005, p < 0.001, and p = 0.048). In the S/PAC-DE group, total IgE was positively correlated with MMP-9 (r = 0.652, p = 0.008). Total IgE and LT-α were positively correlated in the DE group (r = 0.498, p = 0.016), while the two showed a negative correlation trend in the S/PAC-DE group (r=-0.272, p = 0.103). LT-α was positively correlated with tear film break-up time and negatively correlated with corneal fluorescein staining score in both the S/PAC-DE and DE groups.Conclusions In the S/PAC-DE co-morbid state, the inhibition of tear LT-α expression and the upregulation of the pro-inflammatory cytokines total IgE, TNF-α, and MMP-9 may collectively contribute to the disruption of the ocular surface epithelial barrier, further promoting and exacerbating DE. Additionally, the differences in correlation between LT-α and total IgE in the S/PAC-DE and common DE patients may be related to the distinct ocular immune microenvironments.

Keywords: allergic conjunctivitis; dry eye; lymphotoxin; immunoglobulin E; MMP-9; TNF-α; tear cytokines; ocular surface barrier

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How to cite

Jiao, X., Gao, N., Wang, D., Pazo, E. E., Qi, Y., Ma, Y., Zhang, C., Yang, R. (2025). Differential Expression of Tear Lymphotoxin-Α, Immunoglobulin E, and Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 in Allergic Conjunctivitis-Associated Dry Eye. Current Eye Research. https://doi.org/10.1080/02713683.2025.2549298

@article{jiao2025differential,
  title = {{Differential Expression of Tear Lymphotoxin-Α, Immunoglobulin E, and Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 in Allergic Conjunctivitis-Associated Dry Eye}},
  author = {Jiao, Xiting and Gao, Ning and Wang, Dan and Pazo, Emmanuel Eric and Qi, Yuanyuan and Ma, Yueni and Zhang, Chen and Yang, Ruibo},
  journal = {Current Eye Research},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1080/02713683.2025.2549298},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/02713683.2025.2549298},
}

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