Abstract

We studied the concentration of procalcitonin (PCT) in serum and tear fluid of 15 apparently healthy individuals (control group), 16 patients with uveitis (main group) and 14 patients with non-inflammatory eye pathology (control group) by ELISA. The serum content of PCT was low (75% quartile - 0,031 ng/ml) and between groups did not differ significantly (H-Kruskal-Wallis test, p=0,0872). The lacrimal fluid PCT level 8-11 times greater than its concentration in the serum of all groups (Wilcoxon test criterion p <0,005). The lowest concentration of PCT was revealed in lacrimal fluid of patients of the comparison group (0,072±0,064 ng/ml) in the main and control groups the level was significantly higher (H-Kruskal-Wallis test, p=0,0002) and amounted to 0,257 ± 0,146 ng / ml and 0.198 ± 0.151 ng/ml, respectively. Correlation analysis between the concentration of PCT in tears and blood serum revealed no relationship (Spearman correlation coefficient in all groups of no more than | 0,1 |). The development of uveitis is not accompanied by any changes of PCT concentration in either blood serum or lacrimal fluid. The absence of correlation and a higher concentration of PCT in tears in comparison with blood serum prove that there is an additional source of this protein in lacrimal fluid.

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