Correlation between tear cytokine profiles and corneal injury degree in patients with dry eye syndrome.

BACKGROUND

Dry eye syndrome (DES) is a very common ocular surface disorder that is closely related to corneal damage. However, the relationship between tear cytokines in patients with DES and the severity of corneal damage remains unclear.

METHODS

Patients with DES of different corneal injury degrees (mild, moderate, severe) were enrolled. The baseline data of each group of patients were compared. The levels of tears cytokines were detected by the multiplex Luminex assay. The Kruskal-Wallis H test and the Mann-Whitney U test were used to compare the levels of cytokines. Independent risk factors were screened out using the logistic regression method, and their predictive effects were evaluated by the ROC curve analysis. Ordered logistic regression analysis confirmed the association between key cytokines and the severity of corneal injury.

RESULTS

There were no significant differences in baseline data among the three groups (all P > 0.05). IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α were identified as independent risk factors for moderate corneal injury, with the combined model achieving an AUC of 0.865. IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-8 were independent risk factors for severe corneal injury, and the combined model had an AUC of 0.885. The ordered logistic regression analysis further confirmed that IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α and IL-8 were independent risk factors for the aggravation of corneal injury severity across all grades.

CONCLUSION

IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α and IL-8 play key roles in injury progression. The targeted combined models can efficiently predict the progression of corneal injury degree, providing reliable evidence for clinical graded management and individualized intervention.