The LACRT gene provides instructions for lacritin, a protein in tears that helps keep the surface of the eye moist, protected, and comfortable. This gene helps your body support normal tear production and the health of cells on the cornea and conjunctiva. If the LACRT gene does not work properly, tears may be less effective and the eye surface may become dry or irritated. Changes in this gene are being studied in relation to dry eye, but most eye dryness has many causes.
What is a gene?
Genes are stretches of DNA that carry instructions your cells use to make molecules or regulate activities in the body. Some genes provide the directions for producing proteins, the functional parts of cells. Others mainly help determine when certain processes happen, where they take place, and how strongly they are carried out. Together, genes affect how the body develops and works, and they can influence how you respond to food, stress, or medications. For a more in depth look at this topic, you can find additional information in the LearnHub.
Overview
LACRTGene function
What if the gene works
The LACRT gene helps make lacritin, a protein found in tears. Lacritin supports tear production and helps keep the eye surface moist and healthy. It also helps cells on the cornea renew and protect the eye.
Risk
What if the gene does not work
Changes in the LACRT gene can range from milder to more severe and may reduce or alter lacritin, a tear protein that supports signaling in ocular surface cells. This can weaken tear film protein balance and normal cell renewal.
Treatment
What does that mean for your treatment
No treatment or drug choice is currently guided specifically by a pathogenic or loss of function variant in the LACRT gene. In research, lacritin is being studied as a tear film biomarker and as a possible target for future dry eye treatments, but this has not changed routine clinical care.
Gene function
What if the gene works
Comfortable vision depends in part on healthy tears, and the LACRT gene helps supply a key tear protein called lacritin. This protein works on the surface of the eye, where it supports moisture and everyday upkeep. Understanding the LACRT gene’s function helps you see how tears do more than simply wet the eye.
The LACRT gene helps signal tissues around the eye to release tears. This supports a steady tear layer that keeps the eye moist during reading, screen use, and blinking.
Lacritin from the LACRT gene supports the outer cells of the cornea and conjunctiva, the clear front layer and lining of the eye. It helps these cells stay healthy and responsive as the eye meets air, light, and everyday irritation.
This gene also encourages gentle cell growth and repair on the eye surface. That routine renewal supports the LACRT gene’s role in tear production and eye surface health, helping the surface stay smooth after minor everyday stress.
What is a variant?
A genetic variant is a small difference in the DNA sequence within a gene. These changes are common and are part of normal human diversity, including differences in appearance, metabolism, or the way the body responds to environmental influences. Many variants do not have any noticeable effect and simply represent natural genetic variation. Sometimes, though, a variant changes how a gene functions more substantially and may contribute to or cause a genetic condition.
Genetic variants
What if the gene does not work
Changes in the LACRT gene can alter the lacritin protein's shape, stability, or release from cells. In studies of how variants in the LACRT gene affect protein function, some changes appear to reduce normal processing, while more disruptive variants may lead to a shortened protein or little protein being secreted. Milder variants can leave part of the protein's activity intact, so the functional impact may range from subtle to more marked.
How variants are linked to conditions
The LACRT gene does not yet have a broadly confirmed link to a specific health condition, though research on LACRT gene variants and health conditions continues to develop. Anyone with a confirmed LACRT-related diagnosis should rely on guidance from their doctor or genetic counselor rather than general information.
A variant is not necessarily a diagnosis
Gene variants are a routine part of human biology and are common throughout the general population. Most do not have a direct effect on health and simply reflect natural human diversity. For many genes, carrying a variant associated with a condition suggests a possible link rather than a definite diagnosis, especially when several genes and environmental factors are involved. In some situations, however, one well-characterized variant in a specific gene can be enough to confirm a diagnosis.
Are there things that can increase or change my risk?
There is not yet broadly confirmed evidence on specific factors that increase or reduce health risk related to the LACRT gene. If you have concerns about personal risk or a family history of related eye problems, speaking with a doctor or genetic counselor can help put genetic results in context.
Inheritance of LACRT variants
There is not yet a broadly confirmed Mendelian pattern for how LACRT gene variants are inherited in a specific human condition. Current evidence does not support labeling LACRT gene inheritance as clearly autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive, or X linked for an established LACRT related disease. The LACRT gene is located on chromosome 12, which is an autosome, so each person inherits one copy from each parent. In that general sense, how LACRT gene variants are inherited follows the usual pattern for genes on nonsex chromosomes.
What does my LACRT result mean for my family?
There is not yet a broadly confirmed inherited condition linked to the LACRT gene in the way seen with some other genes. If you have a specific LACRT result and want to know what it could mean for close relatives, a doctor or genetic counselor can explain it in the context of your personal and family history.
Genetic information
Genetic testing
How you find out about variants
To look for changes in the LACRT gene, LACRT gene genetic testing analyzes DNA from a blood sample, saliva, or a cheek swab. The lab reads the gene’s sequence and compares it with the usual version to identify variants, then classifies findings as benign, uncertain, or linked to disease.
When should I consider getting a genetic test?
There is not yet a broadly established medical reason to get genetic testing focused only on the LACRT gene. Decisions about testing are usually based on your symptoms, eye findings, and family history, and are best discussed with a doctor or genetic counselor.
A genetic result is only one part of your health story
Genetic information can be useful, but what a result can tell you varies by the condition and by the kind of variant present. How the body functions over time is also shaped by many influences, including lifestyle, environment, age, and medical history. In some conditions, especially those that involve many genes, a genetic result offers context rather than certainty and is most helpful when viewed with other parts of care. In other situations, it may give a clear answer. In areas like medication response, genetic results can also help make sense of individual experiences.
Pharmacogenetics
How variants shape your response to medicine
Genetic variation can affect how your body absorbs, breaks down, or responds to medicines. This helps explain why the same treatment works well for one person, seems weaker for another, or causes more side effects in someone else. These differences are common and can influence how strongly a medicine acts, how long it stays in the body, and how sensitive you may be to it.
What is Pharmacogenetics?
Pharmacogenetics examines how genetic differences affect the way people respond to medicines. It studies the relationship between genes and drugs to help explain why the same treatment may work differently from one person to another. For many medications, genes can influence both how strong a drug’s effects are and how the body handles it. This information can support treatment decisions that are more informed and more individualized. You can read more about this topic in the LearnHub.
Drugs influenced by the LACRT gene
When should I seek medical advice?
There is not yet a broadly confirmed role for this gene in guiding medication choice or dose, so questions about side effects, new symptoms, or how well a treatment is working are best discussed with your doctor.