Changes in Tear Cytokines Following a Short Period of Daily and Overnight Silicone Hydrogel Lens Wear

Background and Objective: To investigate changes in ocular surface inflammatory markers after daily and overnight silicone hydrogel contact lens wear in healthy wearers. Material and Methods: Twenty-six experienced soft contact lens subjects were evaluated at baseline, after 1-day of silicone hydrogel lens wear, and after 1-night of wear. Basal tears were collected at each visit and tear cytokine concentrations were quantified using multiplex [interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12(p70), IL-17A and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α] or ELISA (IL-8) kits. A historical control group of 27 non-contact lens wearers was used to compare absolute concentrations and diurnal variations in tear cytokine concentrations. Changes in cytokine concentrations were analyzed using linear mixed models. Linear regression with bootstrapping was used to assess whether changes in IL-1β concentrations were associated with changes in other cytokines. Results: IL-8 concentrations decreased after 1 day of silicone hydrogel contact lens wear and returned to baseline levels the next morning (p=0.04). This same diurnal fluctuation was seen in non-contact lens wearers (p=0.03). With daily contact lens wear, there was a significant positive correlation between the changes in IL-1β and IL-8, TNF-α, IL-10 and IL-12(p70) (all p<0.03). With overnight contact lens wear, there were significant positive correlations between the changes in IL-1β and IL-6, IL-17A and TNF-α (all p<0.01). Conclusion: A short period of daily and overnight silicone hydrogel lens wear does not significantly alter the inflammatory status in adapted soft contact lens wearers.