Jing Dalan, Jiang Xiaodan, Chou Yilin, Wei Shanshan, Hao Ran, Su Jie, Li Xuemin
Department of Ophthalmology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China.
Beijing Key Laboratory of Restoration of Damaged Ocular Nerve, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China.
Front Med (Lausanne). 2022 Jun 3;9:906219. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2022.906219. eCollection 2022.
This study aimed to investigate the association of between previously neglected oval cells located in the corneal vortex and dry eye disease (DED). This was an observational, prospective study involving 168 patients with different degrees of DED. confocal microscopy was used to observe the corneal subbasal nerves and Langerhans cells (LCs) in the corneal vortex and periphery. Bright and oval cells were also observed in the corneal vortex. An artificial intelligence technique was used to generate subbasal nerve fiber parameters. The patients were divided into the three groups based on the presence of inflammatory cells. Group 2 patients showed a significant increase in the corneal peripheral nerve maximum length and average corneal peripheral nerve density. Patients in group 3 had more LCs than other patients. A bright and oval cell was identified in the corneal vortex, which might be a type of immature LC related to the disease severity of DED.
本研究旨在调查角膜涡状区域中先前被忽视的椭圆形细胞与干眼症（DED）之间的关联。这是一项观察性前瞻性研究，涉及168例不同程度的DED患者。使用共聚焦显微镜观察角膜涡状区域和周边的角膜基底膜下神经和朗格汉斯细胞（LCs）。在角膜涡状区域还观察到明亮的椭圆形细胞。使用人工智能技术生成基底膜下神经纤维参数。根据炎症细胞的存在将患者分为三组。2组患者的角膜周边神经最大长度和平均角膜周边神经密度显著增加。3组患者的LCs比其他患者更多。在角膜涡状区域发现了一种明亮的椭圆形细胞，它可能是一种与DED疾病严重程度相关的未成熟LCs。
