[Evaluation of the chemokine variation in tears of contact lens wearers].

Purpose: To evaluate the variation of chemokines in tears of contact lens wearers.

Subjects And Methods: The subjects were divided into the three groups: a control group consisting of 26 eyes of 26 healthy volunteers without contact lenses a contact lens group (CL group) consisting of 30 eyes of 30 healthy contact lens wearers without ocular surface disorders, and a giant papillary conjunctivitis group (GPC group) consisting of 9 eyes of 9 patients with giant papillary conjunctivitis caused by contact lens wearing. Tear samples were taken by the modified Schirmer I method using a filter paper. Tear samples were eluted and analyzed for chemokines including interleukin-8 (IL-8), eotaxin-2, and pulmonary and activation-regulated CC chemokine (PARC) by the antibody array method. Concentrations of IL-8, eotaxin-2, and PARC in tears were determined quantitatively by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Results: Using the antibody array method, the expression of IL-8, eotaxin-2, and PARC in the GPC group was 4-fold higher or greater than in the control group. In the measurement by ELISA, IL-8 levels in the GPC group (1154.5 +/- 1739.3 pg/ml) (mean +/- SD) were significantly higher (Kruskal-Wallis test, p < 0.01) than in the control (75.2 +/- 88.7 pg/ml) and CL (153.6 +/- 252.8 pg/ml) groups. The eotaxin-2 levels in tears did not show a statistical difference among the three groups. The PARC level in tears of the GPC group (2859.6 +/- 2299.9 pg/ml) was significantly higher than in the control(589.0 +/- 324.8 pg/ml) and CL (671.7 +/- 536.2 pg/ml) groups (Kruskal-Wallis test, p < 0.05).

Conclusion: Wearing a contact lens per se disorders, does not cause chemokine variation in tears. However, an increase of IL-8 which induces neutrophilic invasion and an increase of PARC which induces lymphocyte invasion play an important roles in increasing the risk factor of GPC when wearing contacts.