Abstract
Purpose::
Identify the role of IL-1B in the pathogenesis of equine fungal keratitis and purulonecrotic keratitis
Methods::
Paraffin-embedded normal (n=3), purulonecrotic (n=10) and fungal keratitis (n=9) corneal samples were evaluated immunohistochemically for IL-IB. The number of immunoreactive inflammatory cells (macrophages and neutrophils) was counted in 10 high power fields and the staining intensity (SI) scored from 1-4. A student’s t-test was performed to compare the number of immunoreactive inflammatory cells (IC) and SI between the all three groups. Significance was set at p≤ 0.05.
Results::
The mean IC cout for the three groups were 2.86 for the purulonecrotic, 4.67 for the fungal keratitis and 0 for the control samples. The mean SI for the three groups were 2.10 for the purulonecrotic, 2.11 for the fungal keratitis and 0 for the control samples. The number of IC, and SI was significantly higher for IL-1B in the purulonecrotic and fungal keratitis samples when compared to the controls. Three was no significant difference in the number of IC and SI between purulonecrotic and fungal keratitis samples.
Conclusions::
IL-1B is expressed in equine purulonecrotic and fungal keratitis, and may play are role in their pathogenesis.
Keywords: keratitis • fungal disease • immunohistochemistry