Dealing with the Persistent Pathogenic Issues of Dry Eye Disease: The Importance of External and Internal Stimuli and Tissue Responses

The immune system plays a central role in protecting the ocular surface from exogenous and endogenous insults, maintaining tissue homeostasis thanks to the mechanism of para-inflammation. This physiological adaptive response may induce resident macrophages/monocytes to produce cytokines and growth factors in order to promote epithelial cell recovery. In case of well-controlled para-inflammation, caused by a low amount of stress, cell viability and function are maintained. When stress becomes too intense, there is a response characterized by the activation of autophagic pathways and consequent cell death. Dysregulated homeostasis and chronic sub-clinical inflammation are the starting points for the development of a stable, chronic inflammatory disease, which leads to ocular surface damage, and, in turn, to the onset or progression of chronic dry eye disease (DED). The long-term management of DED should consider all of the pathogenic issues involved in the disease, including the control of persistent external or internal stresses that are capable of activating and maintaining the para-inflammatory adaptive mechanisms, potentially leading to full-blown inflammation. Dysregulated para-inflammation can be corrected by means of the prolonged use of tear substitutes containing minimal doses of safe corticosteroids or other anti-inflammatory molecules (e.g., corticosteroid, cyclosporine) in order to re-equilibrate ocular surface homeostasis.