This abstract is assigned to sessions
| Presentation preference | Oral presentation |
| Title | Cytokine expression profile in tears of COVID-19 patients |
| Purpose | To study the local immune response to SARS-CoV-2 by evaluating tear cytokine expression profile in COVID-19 patients. |
| Methods | We enrolled 90 COVID-19 patients (30 each mild/moderate/severe disease) and 30 healthy controls. Baseline tears and conjunctival swabs of COVID-19 patients were collected during their hospitalization, within < 2 days of their blood sample collection. Conjunctival swabs were subjected to quantitative RT-PCR. Tear cytokines IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, TNF, IFN-γ and IL-17 were measured using BDTM Cytometric Bead Array kit. |
| Results | TNF was significantly higher and IL-4 lower in tears of COVID-19 patients versus healthy controls, with similar differential expression in serum. IL-6 (upto 215.4 pg/mL) and IL-10 (upto 81.8 pg/mL) were the most abundant cytokines in tears of COVID-19 patients. IL-6 was also higher in ‘severe’ disease, both in tears (significantly, p=0.026) and serum (not significant, p= 0.547). IL-17 was significantly (p=0.022) higher in tears collected within 1-7 days of disease onset, as compared to samples collected later. Six (6.7%) conjunctival swabs were positive for RT-PCR. |
| Conclusion | High TNF and low IL-4 expression in both tears and peripheral blood provides an opportunity to explore the immunological behaviour of tears in COVID-19. High IL-6 levels in ‘severe’ disease and high tear IL-17 in ‘early’ disease (with reduced serum levels) may indicate their increased local production, influenced by disease duration and severity, and help in understanding the role of ocular surface in COVID-19. |
| Conflict of interest | No |
Authors 1
| Last name | BANSAL |
| Initials of first name(s) | R |
| Department | Ophthalmology, PGIMER |
| City | Chandigarh |
| Country | India |
Authors 2
| Last name | punniyamurthy |
| Initials of first name(s) | A |
| Department | Biochemistry, PGIMER |
| City | Chandigarh |
| Country | India |
Authors 3
| Last name | Verma |
| Initials of first name(s) | I |
| Department | Biochemistry, PGIMER |
| City | Chandigarh |
| Country | India |
Authors 4
| Last name | Gupta |
| Initials of first name(s) | V |
| Department | Ophthalmology, PGIMER |
| City | Chandigarh |
| Country | India |
