Table 6:
Descriptive statistics for dry eye symptoms and signs across levels of tear cytokines.
| Median cytokine value | N | OSDI score | Conjunctival staining score | Corneal staining score | TBUT | Schirmer’s test | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | |||
|
| |||||||
| IL-1β | |||||||
| Q1 (0–1.1) | 0 | 34 | 42.7 (18.1) | 2.8 (1.2) | 3.7 (2.4) | 3.3 (1.2) | 10.6 (6.6) |
| Q2 (>1.1–3.5) | 2.6 | 32 | 42.3 (16.5) | 2.8 (1.3) | 2.9 (2.5) | 3.1 (1.3) | 14.1 (7.8) |
| Q3 (>3.5–5.5) | 4.2 | 32 | 41.8 (13.3) | 2.5 (1.3) | 3.2 (2.5) | 3.2 (1.2) | 15.8 (10.0) |
| Q4 (>5.5–39.4) | 8.1 | 33 | 41.0 (13.4) | 2.7 (1.3) | 2.8 (2.6) | 3.8 (2.1) | 10.9 (6.9) |
| IL-6 | |||||||
| Q1 (0–3.1) | 2.3 | 32 | 42.8 (17.9) | 2.6 (1.1) | 3.0 (2.7) | 3.3 (1.4) | 14.5 (8.2) |
| Q2 (>3.1–5.4) | 4.0 | 34 | 46.1 (14.4) | 2.6 (1.2) | 3.0 (2.7) | 3.3 (1.6) | 13.3 (8.9) |
| Q3 (>5.4–9.5) | 7.3 | 32 | 41.2 (14.7) | 3.0 (1.5) | 3.3 (2.5) | 3.4 (1.3) | 12.1 (8.1) |
| Q4 (>9.5–470) | 16.9 | 32 | 37.8 (13.6) | 2.6 (1.3) | 3.4 (2.3) | 3.4 (1.8) | 11.5 (7.2) |
| IL-8 | |||||||
| Q1 (0–15.1) | 10.7 | 33 | 45.3 (14.7) | 2.7 (1.2) | 3.6 (2.6) | 3.5 (1.7) | 12.7 (7.6) |
| Q2 (>15.1–33.8) | 24.4 | 32 | 43.4 (15.6) | 2.4 (1.2) | 2.3 (2.7) | 3.4 (1.3) | 14.0 (9.5) |
| Q3 (>33.8–96.2) | 54.5 | 32 | 38.9 (15.2) | 2.7 (1.2) | 3.0 (2.2) | 3.2 (1.4) | 13.6 (8.6) |
| Q4 (>96.2–15953) | 339 | 33 | 39.9 (15.7) | 3.1 (1.5) | 3.7 (2.4) | 3.3 (1.7) | 11.0 (6.6) |
| IL-17A | |||||||
| Q1 (0–1.6) | 0 | 33 | 42.3 (15.7) | 3.2 (1.4) | 3.3 (2.4) | 3.1 (1.0) | 11.5 (7.3) |
| Q2 (>1–8.0) | 4.4 | 32 | 40.4 (15.9) | 2.4 (1.0) | 4.3 (2.6) | 3.0 (1.2) | 12.0 (7.1) |
| Q3 (>8.0–12.3) | 10.3 | 33 | 45.4 (15.7) | 2.8 (1.4) | 2.6 (2.4) | 3.6 (1.6) | 15.8 (10.1) |
| Q4 (>12.3–47.7) | 18.2 | 33 | 39.6 (14.0) | 2.5 (1.2) | 2.4 (2.3) | 3.7 (1.9) | 11.8 (7.1) |
| IL-10 | |||||||
| Q1 (0) | 0 | 36 | 43.6 (17.0) | 2.9 (1.1) | 3.8 (2.4) | 3.2 (1.2) | 11.1 (6.4) |
| Q2 (>0–8.0) | 4.4 | 29 | 42.3 (14.4) | 2.9 (1.5) | 3.4 (2.6) | 3.2 (1.1) | 14.5 (8.6) |
| Q3 (>8.0–16.2) | 12.3 | 33 | 41.1 (16.5) | 2.5 (1.3) | 3.0 (2.5) | 3.6 (2.1) | 14.8 (9.1) |
| Q4 (>16.2–70.3) | 28.1 | 32 | 40.2 (13.3) | 2.6 (1.3) | 2.4 (2.5) | 3.5 (1.5) | 11.2 (8.0) |
| IFNγ | |||||||
| Q1 (0–9.8) | 4.0 | 33 | 41.4 (18.4) | 3.0 (1.3) | 4.4 (2.2) | 3.0 (1.0) | 10.3 (7.6) |
| Q2 (>9.8–27.7) | 18.3 | 33 | 43.6 (13.1) | 2.7 (1.3) | 3.4 (2.8) | 3.0 (1.2) | 13.0 (6.8) |
| Q3 (>27.7–41.4) | 33.7 | 33 | 43.3 (15.9) | 2.7 (1.2) | 2.3 (2.2) | 3.8 (1.5) | 16.1 (9.6) |
| Q4 (>41.4–142) | 64.2 | 32 | 39.5 (13.8) | 2.4 (1.2) | 2.6 (2.3) | 3.7 (2.1) | 11.7 (7.3) |
| TNFα | |||||||
| Q1, Q2 (0) | 0 | 70 | 42.6 (16.4) | 2.8 (1.3) | 2.7 (2.5) | 3.4 (1.4) | 14.2 (8.8) |
| Q3 (>0–3.5) | 1.9 | 28 | 43.4 (14.8) | 2.5 (1.1) | 4.5 (2.3) | 2.9 (1.0) | 11.5 (6.4) |
| Q4 (>3.5–99.6) | 6.5 | 32 | 39.6 (13.6) | 2.6 (1.4) | 3.1 (2.5) | 3.6 (2.0) | 10.9 (7.6) |