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Study finds associations between keratoconus and systemic immune disorders
Cornea. 2010;29(11):1261-1264.
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A variety of autoimmune diseases and allergic immune disorders correlated strongly with keratoconus, a study showed.
"The immune system has been implicated in the pathogenesis of [keratoconus] because thinning of the cornea seems to be associated with increased levels of intracorneal inflammatory mediators such as interleukin 1," the study authors said. "Moreover, allergic conjunctivitis, which results in a chronic inflammation of the ocular surface, has long been associated with [keratoconus]. On the other hand, autoimmune diseases, per se, have not been reported to be associated with [keratoconus] as a group or as separate entities."
The retrospective study included 426 patients with keratoconus and 1,704 age- and gender-matched controls. Patient data were culled from an electronic disease registry in Israel.
Study data showed statistically significant associations between keratoconus and rheumatoid arthritis (P = .02), ulcerative colitis (P = .03), autoimmune chronic active hepatitis (P = .008), Hashimoto's thyroiditis (P = .02), arthropathy (P = .008), asthma (P = .0008), irritable bowel syndrome (P = .0005) and environmental allergy (P = .04).
"A long list of other conditions was reported to be associated with [keratoconus]," the authors said. "For the most part, these associations should be considered to have occurred by chance. Some rare reports point to association between [keratoconus] and connective tissue disorders."