The dynamics of the tear film are reviewed with specific reference to the biophysical aspects: distribution, turnover and elimination through evaporation, drainage, and absorption. The review concentrates on quantitative assessments and is confined to aspects of the dynamics that can be fully and directly measured. The techniques of fluorophotometry, fluorescein clearance, lacrimal scintigraphy...

. PURPOSE Dacryocystorhinostomy (DCR) is the standard surgical treatment for adult nasolacrimal duct obstruction. There have been relatively few studies of closed nasolacrimal duct intubation in adults. The aim of this study was to determine rates of anatomic patency following this procedure. METHODS The authors carried out a survey of all patients undergoing closed nasolacrimal duct intuba...

PURPOSE To sequence and comprehensively analyze human and mouse lacrimal gland transcriptomes as part of the NEIBank project. METHODS cDNA libraries generated from normal human and mouse lacrimal glands were sequenced and analyzed by PHRED, RepeatMasker, BLAST, and GRIST. Human "lacrimal-preferred genes" and putative gene regulatory elements were respectively identified in UniGene and ConSite...

Ectopic lacrimal gland tissue is rarely found within the eye. The first report was that of Puech (i 887) who described an adenoma of the choroid in an adult female. The lesion had the appearance of lacrimal gland tissue which was adherent to the sclera and the retina. After an interval of 65 years Christensen and Anderson (I 952) described ectopic lacrimal gland tissue within the sclera, ciliar...

Dear Editor, Recently, we experienced two cases of lacrimal sac tumors discovered in patients who presented with persistent epiphora after receiving dacryocystorhynostomy (DCR). A 75-year-old female visited the clinic complaining persistent epiphora in the right eye for 5 years. The patient was diagnosed with nasolacrimal duct obstruction in the right eye and received a DCR twice 2 years ago at...

PURPOSE In lacrimal glands, cell-cell interactions control the localization of lymphocyte populations that play a role in immune defense at the ocular surface. This study describes lymphocyte adhesive interactions with cultured lacrimal gland acinar epithelial cells. METHODS Primary cultures of lacrimal gland epithelial cells were used as targets for in vitro lymphocyte binding assays. The re...

PURPOSE To date, mouse lacrimal gland epithelial cells have been cultured successfully but only in cases involving newborn mouse lacrimal glands. In this work, we attempted to cultivate and characterize adult mouse lacrimal gland epithelial cells. METHODS Lacrimal glands were removed from newborn mice (C57B/6) and isolated lacrimal gland epithelial cells were seeded onto tissue culture treate...

A gross anatomical study was made on the lacrimal apparatus in seventeen adult camels (4-10 years age), and three foetuses. The lacrimal gland is situated between the caudodorsal aspect of the eyeball and the supraorbital and frontal process of the frontal and zygomatic bones, respectively. The gland consists of two lobes, cranial and caudal. The excretory ducts were 3-4 in number, and opened i...

Heparan sulfate (HS), an extensively sulfated glycosaminoglycan abundant on cell surface proteoglycans, regulates intercellular signaling through its binding to various growth factors and receptors. In the lacrimal gland, branching morphogenesis depends on the interaction of heparan sulfate with Fgf10Fgfr2b. To address if lacrimal gland development and FGF signaling depends on 2-O-sulfation of ...

Murine lacrimal, harderian and meibomian glands develop from the prospective conjunctival and eyelid epithelia and produce secretions that lubricate and protect the ocular surface. Sox9 expression localizes to the presumptive conjunctival epithelium as early as E11.5 and is detected in the lacrimal and harderian glands as they form. Conditional deletion showed that Sox9 is required for the deve...