Conjunctival immunocytochemistry with interferon gamma and caspase 3 for clinical staging of keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS) in dogs

The study was conducted on 67 client-owned dogs affected with Keratoconjunctivitis Sicca (KCS) to evaluate the expression of Caspase-3 and Interferon gamma in conjunctival cells. After complete ophthalmic examinations cases were staged into Early (E), Late (L) and ulcer group (R). Conjunctival scrapings for immunocytochemical expression of Caspase-3 and INF gamma and tissue samples for histopathological confirmation of KCS were collected from early KCS, late KCS and apparently healthy animals.