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Tear components may indicate ocular rosacea

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BARRINGTON, Ill. — Human tears may help researchers develop a diagnostic test for ocular rosacea, according to a news release.

Mark Mannis, MD, and colleagues at the University of California, Davis, collected samples of tears from 16 patients with ocular rosacea and 21 individuals without rosacea. Tears were analyzed for the presence of oligosaccharides, the National Rosacea Society in the release.

A high level of oligosaccharides in human tears “may be a diagnostic indication of ocular rosacea, and high levels of 13 particular types of the compound were associated with rosacea and may serve as more specific markers for the disease,” the society said.

Because a general increase of oligosaccharides may not necessarily be specific to rosacea, the researchers emphasized that the types of oligosaccharides found in greatest abundance in rosacea patients should be evaluated further for their specificity as markers for ocular rosacea.