Department of Ophthalmology, The Keio University School of Medicine, 35 Shinanomachi Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
Bone Marrow Transplant. 2012 Mar;47(3):416-25. doi: 10.1038/bmt.2011.89. Epub 2011 May 16.
The ocular surface is a frequent target tissue of mucosal chronic GVHD (cGVHD). We investigated the histopathological features of the conjunctival microvilli in patients with cGVHD. Conjunctival tissue specimens from patients with cGVHD or Sjögren's syndrome (SS) or from healthy individuals were examined by light microscopy and EM, impression cytology, and immunohistochemistry. The cGVHD conjunctivae showed significantly more metaplasia and fewer goblet cells than the SS and normal conjunctivae. Abundant CD8(+) T cells infiltrated the basal epithelia in the cGVHD conjunctiva. The microvilli per standard epithelial unit and the secretory vesicles were counted by analyzing electron micrographs. The mean number of mucosal microvilli was significantly lower in the cGVHD than that in the SS or normal specimens, and the microvilli were significantly shorter, with a smaller height-width ratio. The mean number of secretory vesicles was also significantly lower, and the membrane-spanning mucin thinner, in the cGVHD compared with the SS and normal specimens. Thus, the conjunctival mucosal microvilli of cGVHD patients were significantly different in number and morphology from those of SS and normal subjects. These may be important factors affecting the stability of the tear-film layer and its contribution to cGVHD-related dry eye.
眼表面是黏膜慢性移植物抗宿主病（cGVHD）的常见靶组织。我们研究了 cGVHD 患者结膜微绒毛的组织病理学特征。通过光镜和 EM、印迹细胞学和免疫组织化学检查 cGVHD、干燥综合征（SS）或健康个体的结膜组织标本。与 SS 和正常结膜相比，cGVHD 结膜显示出明显更多的化生和更少的杯状细胞。大量 CD8(+) T 细胞浸润 cGVHD 结膜的基底上皮。通过分析电子显微镜照片计算每个标准上皮单位的微绒毛数和分泌小泡数。与 SS 或正常标本相比，cGVHD 标本的黏膜微绒毛数量明显减少，微绒毛明显变短，高度-宽度比减小。分泌小泡的数量也明显减少，cGVHD 标本的跨膜黏蛋白变薄。因此，cGVHD 患者的结膜黏膜微绒毛在数量和形态上与 SS 和正常受试者明显不同。这些可能是影响泪膜层稳定性及其对 cGVHD 相关干眼的影响的重要因素。
