A Prospective, Cross-Sectional Study of Tear Cytokines to Assess Ocular Surface Immune Response in COVID-19 Patients in a Tertiary Care Referral Centre: First Report from the Asia-Pacific Region.
Reema Bansal, Athisankaran Punniyamurthy, Indu Verma, Sadhna Sharma, Ashish Bhalla, Mini P Singh, Pankaj Malhotra, Vikas Suri, Ritin Mohindra, Shyam Charan Meena, Sanjay Jaswal, Vishali Gupta, G D Puri
{"title":"A Prospective, Cross-Sectional Study of Tear Cytokines to Assess Ocular Surface Immune Response in COVID-19 Patients in a Tertiary Care Referral Centre: First Report from the Asia-Pacific Region.","authors":"Reema Bansal, Athisankaran Punniyamurthy, Indu Verma, Sadhna Sharma, Ashish Bhalla, Mini P Singh, Pankaj Malhotra, Vikas Suri, Ritin Mohindra, Shyam Charan Meena, Sanjay Jaswal, Vishali Gupta, G D Puri","doi":"10.1080/09273948.2026.2735427","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>To compare systemic (serum) and local (tear) cytokine profiles in COVID-19 patients across varying disease severities and durations.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This prospective, cross-sectional study evaluated four cohorts (<i>n</i> = 30 each): healthy controls, \"mild,\" \"moderate,\" and \"severe\" COVID-19. Baseline tear and blood samples were collected. Target cytokines (IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17A, IFN-γ, and TNF) were quantified. Group comparisons across disease severities and duration (1-7; 8-14; >15 days) were assessed (omnibus Kruskal-Wallis H tests and post-hoc Dunn's tests with Bonferroni correction). Linear regression mapped serum-to-tear concentration correlations.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Systemically, serum IL-6 (<i>p</i> < 0.001) and TNF (<i>p</i> = 0.003) were significantly elevated in COVID-19 patients, while serum IL-4 was suppressed (<i>p</i> < 0.001). Global group variations existed for tear IL-6 (H = 9.49, <i>p</i> = 0.023) and tear IL-10 (H = 12.95, <i>p</i> = 0.005); post-hoc testing revealed significant elevations in \"severe\" cases (mean rank 72.63 for IL-6; 75.13 for IL-10) compared to \"mild\" cases (48.42 for IL-6; 47.72 for IL-10). No significant differences occurred for IL-2, IL-17A, or IFN-γ (<i>p</i> > 0.05). Temporally, serum IL-4 (<i>p</i> = 0.041), serum IL-17A (<i>p</i> = 0.043), and tear IL-17A (<i>p</i> = 0.019) showed significant duration shifts. Correlations were moderately positive for IFN-γ (<i>r</i> = .390, R<sup>2</sup> = .152), TNF (<i>r</i> = .387, R<sup>2</sup> = .150), and IL-10 (<i>r</i> = .344, R<sup>2</sup> = .118). Six (6.7%) COVID-19 patients had positive conjunctival RT-PCR swabs.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Localised ocular surface cytokine expression partially mirrored systemic COVID-19 immune response. Tear TNF and IL-4 matched systemic profiles, while tear IL-6 and IL-10 displayed unique trends with selective peaks in \"severe\" cohorts. Non-invasive tear assays are viable tools for studying localized inflammatory profiles.</p>","PeriodicalId":19406,"journal":{"name":"Ocular Immunology and Inflammation","volume":" ","pages":"1-10"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7000,"publicationDate":"2026-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Ocular Immunology and Inflammation","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/09273948.2026.2735427","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"OPHTHALMOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Purpose: To compare systemic (serum) and local (tear) cytokine profiles in COVID-19 patients across varying disease severities and durations.
Methods: This prospective, cross-sectional study evaluated four cohorts (n = 30 each): healthy controls, "mild," "moderate," and "severe" COVID-19. Baseline tear and blood samples were collected. Target cytokines (IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17A, IFN-γ, and TNF) were quantified. Group comparisons across disease severities and duration (1-7; 8-14; >15 days) were assessed (omnibus Kruskal-Wallis H tests and post-hoc Dunn's tests with Bonferroni correction). Linear regression mapped serum-to-tear concentration correlations.
Results: Systemically, serum IL-6 (p < 0.001) and TNF (p = 0.003) were significantly elevated in COVID-19 patients, while serum IL-4 was suppressed (p < 0.001). Global group variations existed for tear IL-6 (H = 9.49, p = 0.023) and tear IL-10 (H = 12.95, p = 0.005); post-hoc testing revealed significant elevations in "severe" cases (mean rank 72.63 for IL-6; 75.13 for IL-10) compared to "mild" cases (48.42 for IL-6; 47.72 for IL-10). No significant differences occurred for IL-2, IL-17A, or IFN-γ (p > 0.05). Temporally, serum IL-4 (p = 0.041), serum IL-17A (p = 0.043), and tear IL-17A (p = 0.019) showed significant duration shifts. Correlations were moderately positive for IFN-γ (r = .390, R2 = .152), TNF (r = .387, R2 = .150), and IL-10 (r = .344, R2 = .118). Six (6.7%) COVID-19 patients had positive conjunctival RT-PCR swabs.
Conclusion: Localised ocular surface cytokine expression partially mirrored systemic COVID-19 immune response. Tear TNF and IL-4 matched systemic profiles, while tear IL-6 and IL-10 displayed unique trends with selective peaks in "severe" cohorts. Non-invasive tear assays are viable tools for studying localized inflammatory profiles.
期刊介绍：
Ocular Immunology & Inflammation ranks 18 out of 59 in the Ophthalmology Category.Ocular Immunology and Inflammation is a peer-reviewed, scientific publication that welcomes the submission of original, previously unpublished manuscripts directed to ophthalmologists and vision scientists. Published bimonthly, the journal provides an international medium for basic and clinical research reports on the ocular inflammatory response and its control by the immune system. The journal publishes original research papers, case reports, reviews, letters to the editor, meeting abstracts, and invited editorials.
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
京公网安备 11010802042870号
