Effects of daily versus 30-day continuous contact lens wear on tear cytokine levels

The purpose of this investigation was to determine if 30 days of continuous contact lens wear produces a different ocular inflammatory response compared to 30 days of daily wear of Bausch & LombRTM PureVision(TM) silicone hydrogel contact lenses. Eighty-five individuals wore these lenses for 30 days continuously in one eye and daily in the contralateral eye. Relative concentrations of 27 cytokines were measured in tear samples collected from the subjects using cytometric bead-based assays. Clinical tests were also conducted to correlate changes in cytokine levels to changes in clinical profiles. This study contributes to a greater understanding of the impact of contact lens wear on the ocular surface.