Abstract
Purpose :
Despite the high prevalence of meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) in aging populations, our understanding on age-related MGD remains extremely limited. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the histopathological changes in Meibomain glands (MGs) and mucocutaneous junction (MCJ) at the eyelid margin of human cadaveric donors older than 65 years of age.
Methods :
Tarsal plates were removed from upper eyelids of 10 cadaveric donors (5 males and 5 females, ranging from 68 to 90+ years of age). Tissues were processed for histology and immunohistochemistry.
Results :
Varied degrees of acinar atrophy and glandular loss were seen in the MGs among this older donor group by meibography. Histology revealed that those involuted (“ghost”) and attenuated (“thinned”) MGs seen in meibography are glands undergoing severe acinar loss with intact central ducts. When the expression of keratin 10 (K10), a keratinization biomarker, was examined, we found that hyperkeratinization was only seen in the terminal MG duct in 2 female donors (88 and 90 years old) out of the 10 older donors we examined. K10 staining also showed that MCJ migrated more anteriorly in most of the older donors when compared to the MCJ of two younger donors (30 and 36 years old). Another striking finding was the accumulation of mucin-producing goblet cells in the area from MG orifice to MCJ in all 10 older donors but not in the 2 younger donors.
Conclusions :
Acinar atrophy, instead of hyperkeratinization, is a common and major histopathological feature in all the older donor samples we examined. The age-related anterior displacement of MCJ among older donors is consistent with a previously report in aged mice by others. The combined findings of anterior displacement of MCJ and goblet cell accumulation around the MG orifice in human samples suggest that an age-related MG involution and MCJ re-organization occurs at the human eyelid margins.
This is a 2020 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.