Abstract
Purpose: :
To observe the meibomian glands(MG) alterations in patients with Sjögren syndrome dry eye (SSDE) and non-Sjögren syndrome dry eye (NSSDE) using in vivo laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM).
Methods: :
Fifteen SSDE patients, fourteen NSSDE patients and fourteen age and sex matched controls were studied. All subjects underwent Schirmer test, tear film break-up time (BUT), vital stainings, MG expressibility and LSCM of MG. Diameter of the MG acinar unit and the density of inflammatory cells and mebomian gland acinar unit were determined.
Results: :
The schirmer test value, BUT and vital staining scores were significantly worse in patients with SSDE and NSSDE compared with control subjects (p<0.001 and p<0.05, respectively). The mean inflammatory cells density in SSDE group was 1453.9±513.4 cells/mm2 which was significantly higher than the 930.5±545.2 cells/mm2 and 773.8±312.4 cells/mm2 in NSSDE and control groups respectively. The density of MG acinar unit in controls, NSSDE and SSDE groups was 74.8±28.0 glands/mm2, 79.9±26.6 glands/mm2 and 50.5±14.9 glands/mm2 respectively. The MG acinar unit density in SSDE group was obviously lower than the other groups (p<0.001). There was no obvious difference between three groups in diameter of the MG acinar unit.
Conclusions: :
The results suggested the changes of MG in SSDE may partly attribute to the more severer ocular surface damages and also inflammation may play an important role in the pathology of MG in SSDE.
Keywords: cornea: tears/tear film/dry eye • imaging/image analysis: clinical • microscopy: confocal/tunneling