AIM:To detect the expression levels of miR-744-5p and E3 ubiquitin protein ligase(PELI3)in conjunctival epithelial cells of perimenopausal patients with dry eye, and analyze their correlation with sex hormone level, inflammatory factor level and tear secretion function.

METHODS: A total of 60 perimenopausal patients with dry eye admitted to our hospital from February 2020 to February 2022 were selected as the observation group, in addition, 60 perimenopausal subjects with no abnormal eye examination were included as a control group. The tear film break-up time(BUT), Schirmer I test(SⅠt)and corneal fluorescein staining(FL)scores of perimenopausal patients with dry eye were collected. The conjunctival epithelial cells of the two groups were obtained by impression cytology, the expression level of miR-744-5p was detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction(qRT-PCR), the PELI3 levels of conjunctival epithelial cells and serum levels of follicle stimulating hormone(FSH), estradiol(E2), luteinizing hormone(LH), interleukin-1(IL-1), interleukin-6(IL-6)and tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α)were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; correlation analysis was conducted by Pearson and Spearman methods.

RESULTS: The expression level of miR-744-5p in conjunctival epithelial cells of patients in the observation group was higher than that in the control group, and the expression level of PELI3 was lower than that in the control group(all P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the expression levels of FSH, IL-1, IL-6 and TNF-α in serum of patients increased in the observation group, and the expression levels of E2 and LH in serum decreased(all P<0.05). Correlation analysis showed that miR-744-5p was negatively correlated with PELI3 in conjunctival epithelial cells of perimenopausal dry eye patients(r=-0.476, P<0.01); miR-744-5p was negatively correlated with LH, E2, BUT and SⅠt(all P<0.05), while it was positively correlated with FSH, IL-1, IL-6, TNF-α and FL scores(all P<0.05); PELI3 was negatively correlated with FSH, IL-1, IL-6, TNF-α and FL scores, while it was positively correlated with E2, BUT and SⅠt(all P<0.05).

CONCLUSION: The level of miR-744-5p increased and PELI3 decreased in conjunctival epithelial cells of perimenopausal patients with dry eye. PELI3 and miR-744-5p were closely related to the sex hormones level, inflammatory factor level and the function of tear secretion in perimenopausal patients with dry eye.