@article {1435399, title = {InflammAging at Ocular Surface: Clinical and Biomolecular Analyses in Healthy Volunteers}, journal = {Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci}, volume = {60}, number = {5}, year = {2019}, month = {2019 Apr 01}, pages = {1769-1775}, abstract = {Purpose: To assess the ocular surface in volunteers who consider themselves as healthy, in order to evaluate how para-inflammatory mechanisms fail with age, and thus investigate the phenomenon of "InflammAging." Methods: In this observational prospective cohort study, volunteers were categorized into three groups according to age: young (19-40 years), middle-aged (41-60 years), and older adults (61-93 years). Clinical assessments included tear breakup time (T-BUT) and Schirmer test type I. Dry eye symptoms were evaluated by the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire. Conjunctival mRNA and protein expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), MUC5AC, and IL-8 were measured by real-time PCR and immunofluorescence. Results: A total of 82 volunteers (38 males and 44 females) were enrolled. T-BUT decreased significantly with increasing age (young: 11.13 {\textpm} 0.18 seconds; middle-aged: 10.83 {\textpm} 0.56 seconds; older: 9.00 {\textpm} 1.00 seconds, P \< 0.05). Schirmer test values decreased significantly with age (young: 20.6 {\textpm} 1.0 mm; middle-aged: 19.2 {\textpm} 1.2 mm; older: 16.0 {\textpm} 1.1 mm, P \< 0.05). OSDI scores increased with age in both groups, but they were substantially higher in women. Conjunctival expression of inflammatory markers ICAM-1, IL-8, and MUC5AC increased with age. Conclusions: Clinical signs, symptoms, and biomarkers of chronic inflammation increased with age in a cohort of volunteers who considered themselves healthy, indicating an age-related progressive impairment of ocular surface system function.}, issn = {1552-5783}, doi = {10.1167/iovs.18-25822}, author = {Di Zazzo, Antonio and Micera, Alessandra and Coassin, Marco and Varacalli, Giuseppe and Foulsham, William and De Piano, Maria and Bonini, Stefano} }