Abstract
Purpose :
Dry eye is a common, symptomatic disease which can significantly decrease quality of life. Inflammation is considered a major part of dry eye disease pathogenesis. Dendritic cells are immune cells that serve a unique role inducing primary immune responses and controlling inflammation on the ocular surface. However, the association between dendritic cell density and dry eye symptoms is not well understood. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between ocular surface discomfort and corneal inflammatory cells in individuals with no and mild to severe dry eye symptoms.
Methods :
In-vivo corneal confocal microscopy (IVCM) images from 41 participants (26 females and 15 males), aged 18 to 76 years (mean: 40± 15 years) were analyzed. Five to eight images from the central cornea (CC) and four images from inferior whorl (IW) were analyzed for the dendritic cell densities (DCD). For assessment of ocular discomfort, participants were evaluated with the Dry Eye Questionnaire 5 (DEQ-5) and Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) to measure ocular discomfort relating to 3 subcategories covering symptoms, visual function, and environmental triggers. Associations between the DCD and ocular discomfort were determined using Spearman’s rho correlation. A p-value< 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results :
The average OSDI and DEQ-5 scores were 22± 16 and 9± 5 with a range of 0 to 62 and 0 to 17, respectively. The mean DCD in the CC and IW was 35± 41 and 33± 81 with a range of 0 to 196 and 0 to 502 cells/mm2, respectively. There was a moderate association between DCD at the CC and IW (r = 0.60, p <0.01). DCD, at both locations, had no association with DEQ-5 (r = -0.02, p = 0.19), OSDI (r = -0.08, p = 0.61) or its 3 subcategories including symptoms (r = -0.06, p = 0.70), visual function (r = -0.01, p = 0.95) and environmental triggers (r = -0.05, p = 0.73). Moreover, no association was found between age, gender and DCD (r = -0.18, p = 0.26; r = -0.10, p = 0.55).
Conclusions :
DCD had no relationship with ocular discomfort in this study cohort. While DCD in CC and IW indicated correlation, neither OSDI nor DEQ-5 questionnaire showed association with corneal DCD.
This is a 2021 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.