Fig. 2.

Mean values of IL-17 concentrations in tears of each patient group compared to the normal control group. The patients were divided into two groups; subjects without systemic inflammatory disease (A, group A) and the others with systemic inflammatory disease (B, group B). In all groups, the mean concentrations of IL-17 were significantly higher than that of the normal group (Mann-Whitney U test). NL, normal control; MGD, meibomian gland dysfunction; Sjogren, Sjögren syndrome; GVHD, graft-versus host disease; Autoimmune, dry eye syndrome associated with rheumatoid arthritis or systemic lupus erythematosus; DES, dry eye syndrome without systemic disease; SJS, Stevens-Johnson syndrome; Keratitis, filamentary keratitis.