TEAR IGE CONCENTRATIONS IN ALLERGIC CONJUNCTIVITIS

Purpose Tear IgE has been considered to pla)I an important role in all ergic conjunctivitis and the measurement of tear IgE concentrations ca n help to diagnose this condition. Locally produced IgE levels have be en shown to be the largest contributor to the severity of allergic con junctivitis. Methods One hundred and thirteen allergic conjunctivitis patients (70 seasonal allergic conjunctivitis (SAC), 21 perennial alle rgic conjunctivitis (PAC), 22 vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC)), 14 b acterial conjunctivitis (BC) patients, 13 epidemic keratoconjunctiviti s (EKC) patients and 18 normal controls were recruited. Tear samples w ere collected using the microcapillary method and tear IgE levels were measured using an immunoenzyme assay. Results Tear IgE concentrations showed significant increases in the VKC (322.2 +/- 45.7 ng/ml), SAC ( 194.7 +/- 21.7 ng/ml) and PAC (134.8 +/- 23.1 ng/ml) groups when compa red with controls (52.1 +/- 9.7 ng/ml, p < 0.01). No significant diffe rence was found between EKC (97.2 +/- 11.7 ng/ml) and BC (92.6 +/- 13. 8 ng/ml) groups and controls (p = 0.1). Conclusions Tear IgE concentra tions showed a significant increase in allergic conjunctivitis patient s when compared with controls. Our results suggest that measuring tear IgE concentrations can help to diagnose allergic conjunctivitis.