AIM:To observe the correlation between the interleukin-1β(IL-1β)and interleukin-18(IL-18)in tears of patients with dry eye and symptoms and signs.

METHODS: A total of 131 patients(262 eyes)who were treated for dry eye in the ophthalmology clinic of the First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine were selected from September 2018 to December 12, and the patients were divided into dry eye classification standards according to the dry eye clinical consensus in 2013 No dry eye group, mild dry eye group, moderate dry eye group, severe dry eye group. All patients were examined for dry eye symptom score, break up time(BUT), and tear secretion test Schirmer I test(SⅠt), corneal fluorescein sodium staining(FL), ELISA method to detect the expression of IL-1β and IL-18 in tears, and to analyze the correlation between dry eye inflammatory factors and symptoms and signs.

RESULTS: There were significant differences in the expression of dry eye symptoms, BUT, SⅠt, FL and IL-1β and IL-18 in tears(P<0.001), inflammatory factors IL-1β, IL-18 and dry eye symptom scores. FL was positively correlated(P<0.05)and negatively correlated with BUT and SⅠt(P<0.05).

CONCLUSION:Inflammatory factors in tears of dry eye patients were correlation with dry eye symptom and signsa.