Abstract
Purpose :
With aging, the prevalence of meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) increases. Meibomian glands are target organs of sex steroid hormones. The purpose of this study was to investigate the age-/sex- related meibomian gland changes in both young and elderly healthy individuals by using in vivo laser scanning confocal microscopy (IVCM) .
Methods :
This study involved 42 Japanese subjects without ocular or systemic diseases (young-age subjects: 11 men/10 women, age range 20-30 years; elderly age subjects: 10 men/11 women, age range: 60–70 years). The both eyes of each subject were examined by IVCM (Heidelberg Retina Tomograph II, Heidelberg Engineering) to measure the meibomian gland (MG) acinar units per field of view(400x400μm2). Additionally, following clinical evaluations by the non-invasive instrument (IDRA, SBM sistemi, Italy) were also performed; MG dropout rate by meibography, lipid layer thickness by interferometry, tear meniscus height, and non-invasive tear breakup time (NIBUT).
Results :
HRT examination on the central part of lower eyelids revealed that the MG acinar units were 14.8±4.1 units/field in young individuals and 18.6±6.3 units/field in elderly individuals, with a tendency to be higher in the elderly (P=0.08). When the MG acinar units were evaluated by sex, it was significantly higher in the elderly men (18.8±6.0units/field) than in young men (13.3±4.5 units/field) (p=0.04), while there were no age differences between young women (16.2±3.2units/field) and elderly women (18.4±7.0 units/field) (p=0.4). The MG dropout rate in the lower eyelids was 20.3±6.9% in the young and 26.8±6.1% in the elderly, showing a significant increase in the elderly (p=0.003). There were no significant sex differences in drop-out rate in meibography examination.
Conclusions :
This study indicated that in healthy subjects the age-related morphological changes observed by IVCM and meibography may precede the changes of clinical parameters. MG acinar units showed significant age-related change in men, but not in women, which may relate to the intracrine mechanism in MG acini.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.