Abstract:

Dry eye is a multiple factor disease characterized by chronic and persistent inflammation on the ocular surface, which is due to the disruption of normal immunoregulatory mechanism of the lacrimal functional unit (LFU), which composed of tear film, corneal and conjunctival epithelium, meibomian gland, lacrimal gland and their related nerve tract. Studies show that T helper cells (Th cells)  subsets-derived pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines play crucial role in the ocular surface inflammation. Anti-inflammatory treatments aim at reconstructing the ocuar immunohomeostasis by inhibiting inflammatory cytokines in both clinical trials and animal models are effective in treating dry eye.