A. Akman et al., EFFECTS OF LODOXAMIDE, DISODIUM-CROMOGLYCATE AND FLUOROMETHOLONE ON TEAR LEUKOTRIENE LEVELS IN VERNAL KERATOCONJUNCTIVITIS, Eye, 12, 1998, pp. 291-295
Purpose We compared tear leukotriene B4 (LTB4) and leukotriene C4 (LTC
4) levels of vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) patients with those of
age-matched controls and evaluated the effects of disodium cromoglycat
e (DCG) 2%, lodoxamide 0.1% and fluorometholone 0.1% on the tear LTB4
and LTC4 levels of the VKC patients. Methods Thirty VKC patients were
divided into three groups and their tear LTB4 and LTC4 levels measured
with an enzyme-linked immunoassay technique before and after treatmen
t with either lodoxamide 0.1%, DCG 2% or fluorometholone 0.1%. The res
ults were compared with the tear LTB4 and LTC4 levels of 10 healthy co
ntrol subjects. During this trial period, clinical scores for signs an
d symptoms of VKC were also evaluated. Results In the VKC patients med
ian tear LTB4 and LTC4 levels were 349.0 pg/ml (range 213.3-707.7 pg/m
l) and 225.2 pg/ml (range 196.1-241.1 pg/ml) respectively - significan
tly higher than the control group (p = 0.0065 for LTB4 and p = 0.0003
for LTC4). After treatment, LTB4 levels decreased significantly in all
treatment groups when compared with baseline (for the lodoxamide grou
p, p = 0.01; for the DCG group, p = 0.008; for the fluorometholone gro
up, p = 0.045). LTC4 levels were also significantly reduced after trea
tment in all three treatment groups (for the lodoxamide group, p = 0.0
209; for the DCG group, p = 0.0284; for the fluorometholone group, p =
0.0109). Conclusions Tear LTB4 and LTC4 levels are significantly high
er in VKC patients than controls, which points to a possible role of l
ipoxygenase pathway products in the pathophysiology of ocular allergic
disorders. Lodoxamide 0.1%, DCG 2% and fluorometholone 0.1% were all
effective in reducing LTB4 and LTC4 levels in VKC.