Group IIA phospholipase A2 content of tears in patients with atopic blepharoconjunctivitis

Background To determine the concentration of group IIA phospholipase A₂ (GIIAPLA₂) in tears of patients with atopic blepharoconjunctivitis (ABC), and to compare it with the GIIAPLA₂ concentration of tears in age-matched healthy controls.Methods The diagnosis of ABC was confirmed with a positive skin prick test and the presence of atopic dermatitis in lids. Conjunctival brush cytology was taken, and the cells including eosinophils, neutrophils, lymphocytes, squamous epithelial cells, columnar epithelial cells, metaplastic changes and the goblet cells were calculated separately. The GIIAPLA₂ concentration of tears was measured with a time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay in 29 patients with ABC (mean age 36.3±12.7 years) and 29 normal subjects (mean age 37.0±12.0 years).Results The GIIAPLA₂ concentration of tears in patients with ABC was 43.8±33.0 µg/ml, and in normal subjects it was 67.1±23.3 µg/ml. The difference was statistically significant (p=0.0018). The concentration of GIIAPLA₂ of tears was lowest in the subgroup of patients with ABC and dry eye (25.8 ±23.6 µg/ml), whereas it was only slightly decreased in patients with ABC and normal tear secretion (56.6±33.3 µg/ml). The difference between these two subgroups was statistically significant (p=0.011). There was no statistically significant correlation between the GIIAPLA₂ concentration of tears and the quantity of different conjunctival cells gathered by the brush cytology. However, an almost significant correlation was found between the GIIAPLA₂ concentration in tears and conjunctival eosinophils.Conclusions The results indicate that in patients with ABC the GIIAPLA₂ content of tears was decreased, without any dependence on the quantity of different conjunctival cells.