Evaluation of Long-Term Silicone Hydrogel Use on Ocular Surface Inflammation and Tear Function in Patients With and Without Meibomian Gland Dysfunction

Objectives To determine whether silicone hydrogel (SH) contact lens (CL) use, with or without meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD), promotes ocular surface inflammation. Methods Subjects wearing SH-CL for at least 6 months who also had coexisting MGD (group 1, n=20), SH-CL users who did not have MGD (group 2, n=20), patients who had MGD but did not use CL (group 3, n=20), and healthy CL-naive individuals with no known systemic or ocular diseases (group 4, n=20) were included in this cross-sectional, single-center study. All subjects underwent tear function tests consisting of tear break-up time (tBUT), ocular surface staining, Schirmer test, and the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire, as well as determination of tear IL-1RA, IL-1β, IL-2, IL-2R, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-7, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12, IL-13, IL-15, IL-17, IFN-α, IFN-γ, TNF-α, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, IP-10, monokine induced by gamma interferon, RANTES, eotaxin, MIP-1α, MIP-1β, and MCP-1 levels using Luminex multicytokine immunobead assay. Intergroup comparisons were made using one-way analysis of variance or Kruskal-Wallis test. Results The tBUT was lower (P=0.048) and ocular surface staining (P=0.032) as well as OSDI scores (P=0.001) were higher in group 1 but not in groups 2 or 3 when compared with those in the control group. Tear cytokine levels were similar across all groups. None of the tear cytokine levels were elevated in CL wearers (groups 1 and 2) or those with MGD (groups 1 and 3) as compared to those in control subjects. Conclusion Silicone hydrogel contact lens use with concomitant MGD is not associated with cytokine-driven ocular surface inflammation but may impact tear function leading to dry eye symptoms.