[Expression of the antimicrobial peptide beta-defensin-2 in the conjunctival epithelial cells in primary open-angle glaucoma and over time in the postoperative period].

The time course of changes in the postoperative expression of the antimicrobial peptide beta-defensin-2 (HBD-2) in the conjunctival epithelial cells was studied in 13 patients (13 eyes) with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and 9 individuals (9 eyes) without ophthalmopathology. Scrapes from the eyelid conjunctiva and transient folds were used as a material for an immunological study. In the study group, the scrapes were taken a few hours before and at 7, 30, and 90 days after surgery. The expression of the HBD-2 gene in the study material was determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction. In the subjects without pathology of the organ of vision, the conjunctival epithelial cells exhibited HBD-2; in the patients with POAG, the baseline HBD-2 gene expression was significantly higher. The baseline HBD-2 expression did not depend on gender, the duration of local antihypertensive therapy, the stage of disease stage, and the level of ophthalmotonus. HBD-2 gene expression was by 5-10 times higher than that preoperatively in all the patients with POAG on postoperative day 7. One month after surgery, the HBD-2 gene expression considerably rose in 31% of the examined patients while it became normal in 38% of the patients.

[Changes in various immunological parameters of lacrimal fluid in excessive scarring after antiglaucoma surgery in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma].

Twenty-two patients in whom the expression of the human beta-defensin-2 (HBD-2) gene and the concentrations of human neutrophil peptides (HNP 1-3) and interleukin-17 (IL-17) were determined in the conjunctiva and lacrimal fluid were followed. In patients with primary open-angle glaucoma, the baseline concentrations of HNP 1-3 and IL-17 in lacrimal fluid and the expression of the HBD-2 gene in the conjunctival epithelial cells were higher than those in healthy individuals. The appearance of signs of pathological scarring was observed when HBD-2 expression in the conjunctival epithelial cells was lower and the rate of changes in the lacrimal fluid concentrations of HNP 1-3 and IL-17 was stable.