Expression of Human β-Defensins in Conjunctival Epithelium: Relevance to Dry Eye Disease

Abstract

hBD-2 was expressed only in the conjunctival epithelium of patients with moderate dry eye. Because cytokines such as IL-1beta and TNF-alpha induced the expression of hBD-2 by conjunctival epithelial cells and because increased proinflammatory cytokine activity is a feature of dry eye disease, it can be speculated that the hBD-2 upregulation observed in subjects with moderate dry eye is mediated by proinflammatory cytokine activity.