Purpose Local allergic rhinitis (LAR) has been reported in the field of otolaryngology; however, the concept of local allergic conjunctivitis (LAC) has not been widely studied in the ophthalmologic community. We routinely examined total IgE levels in tear fluids (t-tIgE) and antigen-specific IgE levels in serum (s-sIgE) in patients with suspected allergic conjunctivitis, on the basis of Japanese guidelines for allergic conjunctival diseases. There are several cases in which the results of t-tIgE and s-sIgE testing are divergent. We suggest that these divergent cases correspond to LAR in otolaryngology. Methods The study included 148 patients (33 men and 115 women) with clinical symptoms and signs of allergic conjunctivitis. Allerwatch Tear IgE Ò was used for measurement of t-tIgE levels. ImmunoCAP Rapid Ò and View Allergy 39 Ò were used for measurement of s-sIgE levels. Conjunctival cytology using spatula was used to identify eosinophils on the conjunctiva. Results A total of 83 patients (56.1%) were positive and 65 patients were negative for t-tIgE in the AW. In the ICR, 97 patients (65.5%) were positive for at least one of the eight allergens, whereas 51 (34.5%) were negative for all allergens. Among 83 patients positive for t-tIgE, 14 (16.9%) had no detectable s-sIgE. Therefore, we considered the possibility of LAC in cases in which only local IgE could be detected. Among 28 cases (18.9%) who were negative for t-tIgE and s-sIgE, 21 underwent conjunctival scraping; eosinophils were found in four cases and eosinophilic granules in two. Accordingly, we considered the possibility of non-IgE-type AC in these six cases. Conclusions These results suggest the existence of LAC that is a candidate of a phenotype of AC.

The aim of this study was to determine the presence of Asian dust particles (ADP) in patients suffering from conjunctivitis and its correlation with clinical scores for conjunctivitis. Forty-five patients from the Fukuoka area who were newly diagnosed acute conjunctivitis were selected. The degrees of inflammatory reaction, itchy sensation, hyperemia, eye discharge, and foreign body sensation were clinically recorded and scored. Eyes were washed with physiological solution. Solid particles collected from the washing solution were observed using a scanning electron microscope. Of the 45 samples, 44 were positive for the elements silicon (Si) and aluminum (Al), which are components of ambient Asian dust. Higher conjunctivitis scores were found in the subgroup in which the Asian dust/whole particle ratio was greater than average. This is the first apparent report on the correlation between amount of ADP exposure at the ocular surface and severity of ocular symptoms.

We evaluated the effects of ambient particulate matter (PM) on the corneal epithelium using a reconstructed human corneal epithelium (HCE) model. We collected two PM size fractions [aerodynamic diameter smaller than 2.4 µm: PM0.3–2.4 and larger than 2.4 µm: PM>2.4] and exposed these tissues to PM concentrations of 1, 10, and 100 µg/mL for 24 h. After exposure, cell viability and interleukin (IL) IL-6 and IL-8 levels were determined, and haematoxylin and eosin and immunofluorescence staining of the zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) were performed on tissue sections. In addition, the effects of a certified reference material of urban aerosols (UA; 100 µg/mL) were also examined as a reference. The viability of cells exposed to 100 μg/mL UA and PM>2.4 decreased to 76.2% ± 7.4 and 75.4% ± 16.1, respectively, whereas PM0.3–2.4 exposure had a limited effect on cell viability. These particles did not increase IL-6 and IL-8 levels significantly even though cell viability was decreased in 100 μg/mL UA and PM>2.4. ZO-1 expression was reduced in a dose-dependent manner in all groups. Reconstructed HCE could be used as an in vitro model to study the effects of environmental PM exposure on ocular surface cell viability and inflammation.