OBJECTIVE To investigate the clinical and genetic characteristics of the conjunctivitis patients with human adenovirus (HAdV) infection and analyze the levels of immunoglobins in tears.

METHODS A total of 428 patients with conjunctivitis who were treated in ophthalmology department of Aier Ophthalmology Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University from Dec. 20196 to Dec. 2023 were assigned as the case group, meanwhile, 40 healthy people who received physical examination in ophthalmology department were chosen as the control group. The prevalence of HAdV infection was analyzed by means of florescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The genotypes of HAdV were analyzed by using bioinformatics soft after gene sequencing, the clinical characteristics were compared among the HAdV-positive patients with different genotypes, and the levels of tear immunoglobulins were compared between the HAdV-positive patients with different genotypes and the control group.

RESULTS Among the 428 patients with conjunctivitis from whom the eye swab specimens were obtained, 138 were tested positive for HAdV, accounting for 32.24%. Of the 138 HAdV-positive patients with conjunctivitis, 50.72% were the type 8, 23.20% were type 3, and 21.01% were type 19/37. There were significant differences in clinical manifestations such as photophobia, lacrimal punctum and eye tingling among the type 3, type 8 and type 19/37 patients(P < 0.05); there were no significant differences in conjunctival congestion, burning sensation, blurred vision, swelling, corneal infiltration, foreign body sensation, mucus secretion, heavy eyelids, water-like secretion and low fever among the patients. The levels of tear immunoglobulin (Ig) A, IgM and IgG of the HAdV-positive patients with different genotypes were higher than those of the control group(P < 0.05); there were no significant differences in the above indexes among the patients with different genotypes.

CONCLUSIONS The HAdV infection is highly prevalent among the conjunctivitis patients, among whom the patients have type 8 HAdV infection are dominant. The conjunctivitis patients with different genotypes show the similar clinical manifestations, and the levels of immunoglobulins of the patients are higher than those of the normal population.