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Trypsin Inhibitory Capacity in Vernal Keratoconjunctivitis

¹From the Department of Clinical Biochemistry, School of Medicine and the ³Research Center for Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran; the ²Manitoba Institute of Cell Biology, Cancer Care Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; the ⁴Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction, National Toxicology Program, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina; the ⁵Department of Pathology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida; and the ⁶Department of Ophthalmology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.

PURPOSE. To study tear trypsin inhibitory capacity (T-TIC), serum trypsin inhibitory capacity (S-TIC) and their relationship to matrix metalloproteinases (MMP)-1 and -9 in patients with vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC).

METHODS. In the first phase of the study, inactivation of -1 antitrypsin (AAT) by MMP-1 and -9 was investigated in vitro. Subsequently, tear samples were collected after clinical evaluation from 14 patients with active VKC and 15 normal control subjects. Tear cytology was performed on all samples. Levels of T-TIC and S-TIC were determined by spectrophotometry, whereas levels of tear pro-MMP-1, pro-MMP-9, and active MMP-1 and -9 were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

RESULTS. MMP-1 and -9 inactivated AAT in vitro. S-TIC was significantly higher (P < 0.0001), and T-TIC (P < 0.0001) significantly lower in VKC samples. Tear levels of pro-MMP-1 and pro-MMP-9, and the activity of MMP-1 and -9 was significantly greater in patients with VKC than in healthy subjects (P < 0.0001). There was no significant correlation between T-TIC, MMP-1, and MMP-9 activity. In addition, T-TIC was not correlated to the total clinical score or to single clinical sign scores.

CONCLUSIONS. In this study, tear trypsin inhibitory capacity was shown to be reduced and tear MMP-1 and -9 activity increased in patients with VKC. Although T-TIC did not correlate with VKC severity, a local reduced inhibitory capacity of ATT may facilitate or prolong conjunctival inflammation in VKC.