Novel role of RORg transcription factor in the pathogenesis of keratoconus

Session Details

Session Title: Presented Poster Session: Cornea: Medical

Venue: Poster Village: Pod 2

First Author: : P.Khamar INDIA

Co Author(s): :    R. Shetty   J. Naidu R   A. Ghosh   S. Sethu              

Abstract Details

Purpose:

To investigate the regulatory role of transcription factor Retinoic acid-related Orphan Receptor gamma (RORg) and its isoforms in keratoconus associated inflammatory signalling.

Setting:

Narayana Nethralaya, Bengaluru, India

Methods:

The tears and corneal epithelium from KC patients (n=17) undergoing corneal collagen crosslinking and matched controls (n=12) undergoing surface ablation for refractive correction, were collected and evaluated for mRNA expressions of RORg, RORgT and MMP9 by quantitative PCR. Flow Cytometry based cytokine bead array was used to measure tear fluid levels of IL-17A, IL-17F and IL-21.

Results:

Corneal epithelium from KC patients showed higher expression of RORg (P<0.01) and RORgT (P<0.01) as compared to healthy controls. We observed an increased trend of RORg and RORgT in epithelium over the cone as compared to the periphery. In addition, RORgT and MMP9 expression showed a positive correlation (r = 0.0669; p = 0.003). Furthermore, the tear fluid showed higher levels of IL-17A, IL-17F and IL-21 supporting a role for RORg transcription factor in KC patients.

Conclusions:

Epithelium of KC patients details a role of RORg/RORgT in the disease pathogenesis. This can possibly be used for explicitly targeting RORg/RORgT and the associated chronic inflammatory drivers in the management of keratoconus.

Financial Disclosure:

None