Abstract
Purpose :
There is no consensus regarding the profile of claudin-1 (CLD-1), a tight junction transmembrane protein, and filaggrin (FLG), a filament aggregating protein, on the ocular surface of patients with atopic dermatitis. We conducted a prospective, experimental study to compare the profile of these proteins in the bulbar conjunctiva of atopic dermatitis patients with healthy individuals.
Methods :
We evaluated 11 individuals, seven patients and four controls. Age ranged from 22 to 55 years. Inclusion criteria: patients diagnosed with atopic dermatitis (Hanifin & Rajka criteria). Exclusion criteria: use of topical ocular medication in the last month and ocular disease incompatible with characteristics of atopic keratoconjunctivitis. Epithelial cells from the inferior bulbar conjunctiva were obtained by impression cytology. Samples were incubated with primary anti-CLD-1 (code 51-9000, Invitrogen, Camarillo, CA) and anti-FLG (clone 15C10, NCL-Filaggrin, Leica Biosystems, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK). For the identification of CLD-1 and FLG, fluorescein-conjugated secondary antibodies Alexa 488 (code A11008, Invitrogen) and Alexa 488 (code A21202, Invitrogen) were used, respectively. Slides were scanned using the Pannoramic Scan and analyzed with the software Image-Pro Plus. The mean and standard deviation (mean, standard deviation, minimum and maximum) of immunolabellated cells and the ratios of positive cells by the total number of cells were calculated according to the groups and compared by the groups using the Mann-Whitney tests. The tests were performed with significance level of 5%.
Results :
Both the mean of FLG positive cells and the ratio of FLG positive by the total number of cells were statistically lower in the group of patients with atopic dermatitis compared to the control group (p = 0.024). The mean of CLD-1 positive cells showed no statistically significant difference between the groups (p> 0.05).
Conclusions :
The expression of FLG protein was decreased on the ocular surface of patients with atopic dermatitis. In relation to CLD-1, there was no statistically significant difference between the groups. Our results suggest that disruption of the ocular surface barrier might be involved in the pathogenesis of atopic keratoconjunctivitis in patients with atopic dermatitis.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2017 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017.