Lactoferrin and serum albumin in the conjunctival fluid of eyes operated for senile cataract.

The concentrations of serum albumin (SA) in the conjunctival fluid were measured in 25 patients before surgery and in the post-operative period following cataract extraction. We found a significant increase in mean tear fluid SA concentration on the first post-operative day. The SA concentration remained high during the first 3 pre-operative levels. No correlation between the post-operative concentration profile of tear fluid SA and earlier findings of the tear lactoferrin (LF) profile of the same group of patients (Jensen et al. 1985) could be shown, although a trend towards an inverse relationship was apparent from the graphs. Pre-operatively, we found a significant positive correlation between age and concentration of SA in the conjunctival fluid (P less than 0.05) which might be interpreted as an increase in leakage from conjunctival vessels with age. This would, at least partly, explain the decreasing LF concentration with age (Jensen et al. 1986; McGill et al. 1984). It is concluded that transudate/exudate from the conjunctival vessels, represented by the change in the SA concentration in the conjunctival fluid, might be responsible for an initial post-operatively reduced concentration of LF and possibly other lacrimal gland proteins.