Acta Ophthalmol
Acta OphthalmolMarch 2021Journal Article

The effect of successful trabeculectomy on the ocular surface and tear proteomics-a prospective cohort study with 1-year follow-up.

Glaucoma SurgeryIOP & Medical Therapy

Summary

Clinical signs as well as the proteomics results indicated that the trabeculectomy and resulting cessation of topical glaucoma medication were very beneficial to the ocular surface.

Abstract

PURPOSE

To report changes in the ocular surface and tear proteomics after discontinuation of chronic glaucoma medication.

METHODS

Patients requiring trabeculectomy were recruited from the glaucoma clinic of Tampere University Hospital, Finland. Fifty-seven patients with previous history of anti-glaucomatous eye drops (8.1 ± 6.8 years) and having undergone a successful trabeculectomy were included in this report. Outcomes of interest were conjunctival redness grading, tear secretion (Schirmer I) and tear film proteomics (SWATH-MS) in addition to thorough clinical examination. The protocol included five time points: preoperative visit and postoperative visits at month 1, 3, 6 and 12. All parameters measured were compared to the corresponding preoperative levels of each individual eye.

RESULTS

Conjunctival redness and irritation were significantly reduced during follow-up, while tear production remained unchanged. Protein profiles of the tear film indicated significant changes in the ocular surface. Lipid transport was increased while several pro-inflammatory proteins were consistently decreased after the surgery.

CONCLUSION

Clinical signs as well as the proteomics results indicated that the trabeculectomy and resulting cessation of topical glaucoma medication were very beneficial to the ocular surface. The state of the conjunctiva improved throughout the 1-year follow-up while the levels of pro-inflammatory proteins decreased and lipid transport-associated functions were increased.

Keywords

glaucomamedicationsurgerytear proteomics

Discussion

Comments and discussion will appear here in a future update.