| Budget Amount *help |
¥2,900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,900,000)
Fiscal Year 2005: ¥1,000,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000)
Fiscal Year 2004: ¥1,000,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000)
Fiscal Year 2003: ¥900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥900,000)
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| Research Abstract |
The frequency of IL-4-producing conjunctival T cells in patients with vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) and atopic keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) were significantly higher than that in patients with allergic conjunctivitis (AC). The frequencies of IL-4-producing conjunctival CD4+ T cells of the patients with AC, AKC, or VKC were significantly higher than those of peripheral blood CD4+ T cells of the same disease. Further, increased frequency of P-selectin ligand expressing IL-4-producing T cells was observed in conjunctiva compared to that in PBMC of the patients with allergic conjunctival diseases. The frequencies of IL-4-producing peripheral blood T cells in the patients with ACD were sig-nificantly higher than that in normal controls. Tear levels of cytokines, interleukin-2(IL-2), interferon gamma (IFN-γ), IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8 and IL-13, in 49 patients with ACD (allergic conjunctivitis 14 cases, atopic keratoconjunctivitis 14 cases and vernal keratoconjunctivitis 21 cases) were measured with ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) method. Correlation between cytokines were statistically analyzed. Significant correlations were observed between IFN-g and IL-13, IL-4 and IL-13, IL-5 and IL-6, and IL-8 and IL-13. These results suggest that IL-4-producing T cells that have infiltrated into the conjunctiva play an important role in the immunopathogenesis of allergic conjunctival diseases, and P-selectin ligand is involved in the entry of T cells into allergic inflammatory site and correlation between tear cytokines show various patterns suggesting the complexity and redundancy of cytokines.
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