Upregulation of ICAM-1 expression in the conjunctiva of patients with chronic graft-versus-host disease

S. Aronni, M. Cortes, M. Sacchetti, A. Lambiase, A. Micera, R. Sgrulletta, Stefano Bonini

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

PURPOSE. To correlate conjunctival intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) expression with cytologic and clinical findings of chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). METHODS. Seven patients with chronic GVHD-related keratoconjunctivitis and five age-matched normal controls were recruited for the study. Clinical examination included medical history, visual acuity, evaluation of ocular signs and symptoms (scored from 0 to 3), corneal fluorescein staining (scored from 0 to 5 on the basis of the number of corneal sectors involved), Schirmer test type I, and break-up time (BUT). Impression cytology samples were collected from the nasal and inferior bulbar conjunctiva of patients and controls. Goblet cells were counted in three randomly selected fields and averaged. Immunofluorescent staining for ICAM-1 was carried out and the percentage of cells expressing the marker was evaluated. RESULTS. All patients showed signs and symptoms of keratoconjunctivitis sicca. Schirmer test type I and BUT were reduced (4.8±6.7 mm/5 min and 3.9±2.7 seconds, respectively). Goblet cells were significantly reduced in GVHD eyes with respect to normal eyes (65±30.5 and 192±16.9 cells/field respectively; p

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)17-23
Number of pages7
JournalEuropean Journal of Ophthalmology
Volume16
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2006

Keywords

  • Conjunctiva
  • Graft-versus-host disease
  • ICAM-1
  • Impression cytology

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Ophthalmology

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