Human tear protein biomarkers are useful for detecting ocular and systemic diseases. Unfortunately, existing tear film sampling methods (Schirmer strip; SS and microcapillary tube; MCT) have significant drawbacks, such as pain, risk of injury, sampling difficulty, and proteomic disparities between methods. Here, we present an alternative tear protein sampling method using soft contact lenses (SCLs). We optimized the SCL protein sampling in vitro and performed in vivo studies in 6 subjects. Using Etafilcon A SCLs and 4M guanidine-HCl for protein removal, we sampled an average of 60 ± 31 µg of protein per eye. We also performed objective and subjective assessments of all sampling methods. Signs of irritation post-sampling were observed with SS but not with MCT and SCLs. Proteomic analysis by mass spectrometry (MS) revealed that all sampling methods resulted in the detection of abundant tear proteins. However, smaller subsets of unique and shared proteins were identified, particularly for SS and MCT. Additionally, there was no significant intrasubject variation between MCT and SCL sampling. These experiments demonstrate that SCLs are an accessible tear-sampling method with the potential to surpass current methods in sampling basal tears.

中文翻译：

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使用软性隐形眼镜进行人体泪膜蛋白质采样

人泪液蛋白生物标志物可用于检测眼部和全身疾病。不幸的是，现有的泪膜取样方法（Schirmer 条；SS 和微毛细管；MCT）具有显着的缺点，例如疼痛、受伤风险、取样困难以及方法之间的蛋白质组差异。在这里，我们提出了一种使用软性隐形眼镜（SCL）的替代泪液蛋白采样方法。我们优化了体外 SCL 蛋白采样，并在 6 名受试者中进行了体内研究。使用 Etafilcon A SCL 和 4M 盐酸胍去除蛋白质，我们每只眼睛平均采样 60 ± 31 µg 蛋白质。我们还对所有采样方法进行了客观和主观评估。SS 观察到采样后刺激的迹象，但 MCT 和 SCL 未观察到。通过质谱 (MS) 进行的蛋白质组学分析表明，所有采样方法都可检测到丰富的泪液蛋白。然而，发现了较小的独特和共享蛋白质子集，特别是 SS 和 MCT。此外，MCT 和 SCL 采样之间没有显着的受试者内差异。这些实验表明，SCL 是一种可行的泪液采样方法，有可能超越现有的基底泪液采样方法。