University of Szeged, Department of Ophthalmology, Szeged, Hungary.
Department of Cell & Neurobiology, Kerck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, United States.
Ocul Surf. 2020 Oct;18(4):595-603. doi: 10.1016/j.jtos.2020.07.002. Epub 2020 Jul 21.
Tear secretion is a complex process with the involvement of the main and accessory lacrimal glands, corneal and conjunctival epithelial cells and the Meibomian glands. The lacrimal gland is the main source of fluid, electrolytes and proteins in tear fluid. Deficient ion and water secretion results in aqueous deficient dry eye with serious consequences on the integrity of the ocular surface. Functions of acinar cells are widely studied, whereas less information is available about the duct system of the lacrimal gland. Secretory mechanisms of duct epithelium may play an important role in tear production, but only limited studies have tried to elucidate the role of the duct system in tear secretion. Significant progress has been made in the past few years, resulting in new insight into lacrimal gland duct function. New experimental techniques were introduced, which contributed to the exploration of the role of lacrimal gland ducts in more detail. Therefore, the aim of this review is to summarize our present knowledge about the role of ducts in lacrimal gland function and tear secretion, which appears to be the first review with a focus on this topic. Short outline of pancreatic and salivary gland duct functions is also given for the purposes of comparison.
泪液分泌是一个复杂的过程，涉及主副泪腺、角膜和结膜上皮细胞以及睑板腺。泪腺是泪液中液体、电解质和蛋白质的主要来源。离子和水分泌不足会导致水样液缺乏性干眼症，严重影响眼表面的完整性。人们对腺泡细胞的功能进行了广泛的研究，而对泪腺导管系统的了解较少。导管上皮的分泌机制可能在泪液生成中起重要作用，但只有有限的研究试图阐明导管系统在泪液分泌中的作用。在过去的几年中取得了重大进展，使人们对泪腺导管功能有了新的认识。新的实验技术被引入，有助于更详细地探索泪腺导管的作用。因此，本综述的目的是总结我们目前对导管在泪腺功能和泪液分泌中的作用的认识，这似乎是第一篇专注于该主题的综述。为了便于比较，还简要概述了胰腺和唾液腺导管的功能。
