Correlation of Tear Film Osmolarity and 2 Different MMP-9 Tests With Common Dry Eye Tests in a Cohort of Non–Dry Eye Patients

Abstract

Similar to corneal staining, the MMP-9 is likely a late-stage sign that is rarely overexpressed in mild subjects, whereas tear osmolarity tends to be a more frequent early indicator of ocular surface disequilibrium within mild subjects.

Evaluation of point-of-care test for elevated tear matrix metalloproteinase 9 in post-LASIK dry eyes

“…The authors further reported a significant correlation between InflammaDry result and MMP-9 level 21. Likewise, we reported a Cohen κ coefficient of 0.921 signifying excellent agreement between InflammaDry result and MMP-9 level based on levels >40 ng/mL.…”

“…Chotikavanich et al 12 reported a positive correlation between OSDI and tear MMP-9 level in patients with mild to severe dry eye, but Schargus et al 21 did not find any significant correlation between OSDI and tear MMP-9 level in patients with mild disease only. The authors further reported a significant correlation between InflammaDry result and MMP-9 level 21.…”

“…The threshold of 40 ng/mL for a positive InflammaDry result may not be able to detect patients with mild dry eye symptoms. Indeed, MMP-9 has been proposed as a marker for severe dry eye 21. Although the InflammaDry test demonstrated a high positive and negative agreement for confirming suspected dry eye disease,22 none of the previous studies have evaluated the performance of InflammaDry in post-LASIK dry eyes.…”

Human tear proteomics and peptidomics in ophthalmology: Toward the translation of proteomic biomarkers into clinical practice

“…More recently, Schargus et al have evaluated the performance of MMP-9 using InflammaDry (and confirmed by ELISA) and tear film osmolarity (TFO) tests in a cohort of 20 elderly patients with potential dry-eye disease, finding a positive association only between MMP-9 and corneal staining. However, MMP-9 has been rarely overexpressed in subjects with a mild syndrome (83).…”

Dysfunctional tear syndrome

“…A point-of-care test for the measurement of the concentration of MMP-9 in the tear film of patients suspected of DTS is available [18,67]. Because of a requirement for MMP-9 levels to be greater than 40 ng/ml to provide a positive assessment using the point-of-care diagnostic, the use of MMP-9 as a diagnostic measure may be valid only for patients with more severe forms of DTS [68]. …”