Corneal Epitheliotropic Factors in Autologous Serum Eye Drops in Nonautoimmune and Stevens-Johnson Syndrome With Dry Eye

Autologous serum eye drops (ASE) have been becoming popular in treatment of severe dry eye for the past decade. One of the most beneficial properties of the ASE over artificial eye drops is the epitheliotropic capacity owing to the presence of growth factors and other proteins. There have been reports on alteration of serum growth factors in autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. Alteration in serum growth factors may lead to different therapeutic effect of ASE. We therefore would like to know if there are any alteration growth factors, epidermal growth factor (EGF), transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-β1), transforming growth factor-beta2 (TGF-β2), and fibronectin, in ASE from Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) patients with dry eye, which constitutes a major group of ASE usage in Siriraj Hospital, as compared with non-autoimmune dry eye. We also study stability of these factors following different storage conditions.