Articles about Eye Health and Disease 2002
 

Effect of Smoking on Tear Proteins and Dry Eye Symptoms

(From Grus FH, et al,  Graefe's Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 2002;240:889-92)

A study by the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Mainz, Germany, analyzed electrophoretic tear protein patterns in smokers versus nonsmokers, and found changes in the tear proteins of smokers. The changes were correlated with an increase of dry-eye-related subjective symptoms in smokers.

Cigarette smoking is a serious risk factor not only for cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases but also for macular degeneration, glaucoma and cataract; it can be a factor in dry eye as well. Researchers analyzed and compared electrophoretic patterns in tears of 105 eyes: 29 eyes of smokers, 26 eyes of heavy smokers , and 50 eyes of nonsmokers (control group). Each patient was asked for subjective symptoms of dry eye, such as burning, itching, and foreign-body sensation. Investigators separated tear proteins by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and performed digital image analysis by BioDocAnalyze (Biometra, Göttingen, Germany). They created densitometric data files for each electrophoretic lane. Data was analyzed by multivariate statistical techniques.

Tear protein patterns in the smoking group and heavy smoking group were different from those in the control (non-smoking) group. The investigators saw significantly more protein peaks in the heavy smoker group than in CTRL. They believe that electrophoretic analysis of tear proteins will provide greater insight into the pathogenesis of smoking-induced ocular surface diseases.

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