Rabbit whole meibomian glands were isolated by microsurgical dissection and enzymatic digestion. Both ductal and acinar elements could be separated by subsequent microsurgical manipulation. Epithelial outgrowth could be derived from either the whole gland or the ductal/acinar elements using collagen gel in the serum-containing, growth factor-enriched medium. Two types of outgrowths were observe...

OBJECTIVE To explore meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) may determine the severity of dry eye conditions in visual display terminal (VDT) workers. METHODOLOGY Prospective, case-control study carried out in China.106 eyes of 53 patients (VDT work time >4 hour per day) were recruited as the Long time VDT group; 80 eyes of 40 control subjects (VDT work time ≤ 4 hour per day) served as the Short t...

Posterior blepharitis and dry eye are common disorders with meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD), a principal driver of their pathophysiology. Meibomian is increasingly prevalent in older populations contributory hormonal imbalances. The abnormal meibum MGD has been documented to have an excess cholesterol resultant disruption the lipid layer tear film. This leads film instability due inadequate t...

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to characterize the natural history of meibomian gland morphogenesis in the mouse. METHODS Embryonic (E) and post natal (P) C57Bl/6 mouse pups were obtained at E18.5, P0, P1, P3, P5, P8, P15, and P60. Eyelids were fixed and processed for en bloc staining with Phalloidin/DAPI to identify gland morphogenesis, or frozen for immunohistochemistry staining with...

PURPOSE Meibomian gland epithelial cells are essential in maintaining the health and integrity of the ocular surface. However, very little is known about their physiological regulation. In this study, the cellular control mechanisms were explored, first to establish a defined culture system for the maintenance of primary epithelial cells from human meibomian glands and, second, to immortalize t...

BACKGROUND Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) is one of the most common diseases observed in clinics and is the leading cause of evaporative dry eye. Today, diagnostics of MGD is not fully automatic yet and is based on a qualitative assessment made by an ophthalmologist. Therefore, an automatic analysis method was developed to assess MGD quantiatively. MATERIALS The analysis made use of 228 im...

PURPOSE Androgens exert a significant influence on the structure, function and/or pathophysiology of the meibomian gland and conjunctiva. We sought to determine whether this hormone action involves the regulation of epithelial cell gene expression in these tissues. METHODS Immortalized human meibomian gland and conjunctival epithelial cells were treated with placebo or dihydrotestosterone (DH...