ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Med.
Sec. Ophthalmology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1648334
Correlation of Tear Cortisol Levels with Morphological and Biomechanical Parameters of Keratoconus
Provisionally accepted
- 1Beijing Key Laboratory of Restoration of Damaged Ocular Nerve, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China
- 2Peking University Third Hospital Ophthalmology Department, Beijing, China
- 3Peking University Institute of Laser Medicine, Beijing, China
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Introduction: Keratoconus (KC) is a vision-threatening corneal disorder predominantly affecting young males, significantly impairing their quality of life. We aim to evaluate tear cortisol levels in KC and compare with controls, and to determine the correlation of tear cortisol levels with morphological and biomechanical parameters of KC. Methods: Age-and sex-matched 42 eyes of 42 patients were enrolled. The levels of tear cortisol were obtained by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Pentacam HR and Corvis ST II were used to detect the corneal morphological and biomechanical parameters. Spearman correlations between tear cortisol levels and corneal parameters were calculated for all patients. Results: Comparing with the control group, the level of tear cortisol significantly increased in the KC group (1660.95 [1175.01-2408.81] vs. 945.60 [550.36-1699.32], P = 0.023). It was positively correlated with Belin-Ambrosio Display D value (BAD-D), inferior-superior value (IS-value), keratoconus index (KI), Pentacam random forest index (PRFI), Corvis biomechanical index (CBI), and negatively correlated with central corneal thickness (CCT) and thinnest corneal thickness (TCT). No significant association was found between tear cortisol levels and maximum K value (Kmax), tomographic and biomechanical index (TBI), and stress-strain index (SSI). Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that tear cortisol levels are significantly associated with some corneal morphological and biomechanical parameters in KC, suggesting its potential role as a pathogenic factor, thereby providing new insights into the exploration of disease pathogenesis.
Keywords: Keratoconus, cortisol, Pathogenesis, Morphological parameters, Biomechanical parameters
Received: 19 Jun 2025; Accepted: 24 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhao, Sun, Yuan, Zhang and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yueguo Chen, chenyueguo@263.net
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