Abstract
Purpose :
Ocular surface inflammation is a well-described component of dry eye disease (DED). This study evaluated the positivity of 34 systemic inflammatory biomarkers in the serum of DED patients from the DREAM study and their associations with Sjogren’s syndrome (SS).
Methods :
Baseline blood samples were collected and analyzed for biomarkers using line immunoassays (LIA). The ImmcoStripe ANA Advanced LIA (Immco Diagnostics Inc., Buffalo, NY) was used for detection of antibodies to Ro 60, Ro 52, PM-Scl100, PM-Scl75, AMA-M2, DFS70, CENP-B, PCNA, Ku, Mi2, SRP54, Histones, DNA, Sm, Jo1, U1SnRNP A, U1SnRNP68, U1SnRNP C, Scl70, La, and Ribo-P. The ImmcoStripe Myositis Advanced LIA (Immco Diagnostics Inc., Buffalo, NY) was used for detection of antibodies to PM-Scl100, PM-Scl75, Ku, Mi-2, Ro 52, Jo-1, Fibrillarin/U3 RNP, PL7, PL12, OJ, EJ, U1 SnRNP68, U1 SnRNP A, U1 SnRNP C, U2 SnRNP A’, U2SnRNP B’’, SRP54, SAE1, MDA5/CADM-140, CN-1A, MORC3, TIF1/TIF1a, and KS. At baseline, participants were categorized as SS or non-SS patients based on the 2012 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria1. Comparison of biomarker positivity between Sjo vs. non-Sjo patients was performed using a Chi-square test.
1.Bunya et al. Prevalence of Novel Candidate Sjogren Syndrome Autoantibodies in the Dry Eye Assessment and Management (DREAM) Study. Cornea. 2018;37(11):1425-1430.
Results :
481 DREAM participants with moderate-to-severe DED had biomarker assessments at baseline. Table 1 shows the positivity of each inflammatory biomarker. Few subjects showed strongly positive results for any of the biomarkers. KS, U2SnRNP A’, OJ, PL-12, Ku, and PCNA were 0% strongly positive. The rest ranged from 0.2% (MORC-3, Sm, Histones, Ribo-P) to 11.4% (SAE-1). Table 2 compares the positivity of biomarkers with a significant difference between SS and non-SS patients. Compared to the latter, Sjo patients had significantly higher biomarker positivity in CN-1A (P=.004), PL-7 (P=.03), Ro 52 (P<.0001), and La (P<.0001).
Conclusions :
Most systemic inflammation biomarkers were not positive in the majority of participants. Antibodies to CN-1A, PL-7, Ro-52, and La, biomarkers associated with pathologies such as inclusion body myositis, anti-synthetase syndrome, myositis with interstitial lung disease, and primary SS, respectively, were more highly expressed in SS patients.
This abstract was presented at the 2023 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in New Orleans, LA, April 23-27, 2023.