Meibomian gland dysfunction: endocrine aspects.

Purpose. To compare the hormone levels of patients with seborrheic meibomian gland dysfunction with controls. Procedures. This is a retrospective case-control study involving 50 patients and 50 controls. Blood workup for hormones was studied in both groups by using macroELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay). Statistical evaluation was done by using SPSS 15.0 independent samples t-test. Results. There were statistically significant differences of serum testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate levels between patients and controls (P = 0.000). Female gender showed statistically significant differences of serum thyroid-stimulating hormone and prolactin levels between patients and controls (P = 0.014 and P = 0.043), in addition to serum testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate levels (P = 0.000 and P = 0.001). However, male gender showed statistically significant differences of only serum testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate levels between patients and controls. (P = 0.003 and P = 0.003 resp.). Conclusions. Increased serum levels of testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate in both genders should be considered as diagnostic markers for seborrheic meibomian gland dysfunction.