Profile of Local Interleukin Expression in a Cohort of Ocular Cicatricial Pemphigoid Patients

PURPOSE. We investigated the expression of IL-1, IL-6, IL-12, IL-13, and IL-17 in the conjunctiva of patients with ocular cicatricial pemphigoid (OCP), also labeled as ocular mucous membrane pemphigoid (MMP). METHODS. A retrospective case-control study was done on 5 biopsy-proven OCP subjects and 6 healthy volunteers. Conjunctival specimens were obtained, and the local expression of IL-1, IL-6, IL-12, IL-13, and IL-17 was studied by immunohistochemistry. Clinical and therapeutic features were collected during follow-up. RESULTS. No remarkable IL-1, IL-6, IL-12, IL-13, or IL-17 expression was observed in normal conjunctival specimens. All OCP samples had remarkable amounts of IL-12 and IL-17 expression especially in the epithelium and stroma; there also was stromal overexpression of IL-6. The mean follow-up after the biopsy was 13 months (range 9-15 months). CONCLUSIONS. Our results demonstrated, for the first time to our knowledge, a local overexpression of IL-6, IL-12, and IL-17 in conjunctiva of OCP compared to controls. (Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2012;53:8112-8117) DOI: 10.1167/iovs.11-9322