Secreted protein profiles of tear fluid following endothelial keratoplasty

Abstract

Purpose : Successful outcome in corneal transplantation requires an orderly progression in the cross-talk between various factors at the ocular surface. In this study, we investigated the kinetics of soluble factors in bilateral tear fluid proteins after endothelial keratoplasty.

Methods : Tear fluid was collected both from the transplanted and non-transplanted eyes of 21 patients at four time points up to 1 month following unilateral DSAEK. Expression profiles of 51 soluble factors in the tear fluid were analysed in association with the clinical parameters.

Results : Innate proinflammatory cytokines increased in both the transplanted and contralateral eyes, regardless of topical corticosteroid use, whereas cytokines associated with adaptive immunity were suppressed. Notably, tear protein expression at baseline and one week post-surgery were associated with faster recovery of the corneal opacity and better visual acuity after DSAEK.

Conclusions : We have characterized the profiles of 51 tear proteins after Endothelial Keratoplasty. Dynamic changes in cytokine expression in the ipsilateral and contralateral eyes were identified over the course of recovery. We propose that tear fluid protein profiles could be used as potential biomarkers to predict outcome after endothelial keratoplasty.

This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.