Centre for Ocular Regeneration, Brien Holden Eye Research Center, L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, Telangana; Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka, India.
Centre for Ocular Regeneration, Brien Holden Eye Research Center, L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
Indian J Ophthalmol. 2023 Apr;71(4):1227-1236. doi: 10.4103/IJO.IJO_2815_22.
Dry eye disease (DED) is an emerging global health concern with meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) being the most common subtype of DED. Despite being quite prevalent, the pathophysiological mechanisms governing MGD are poorly understood. Animal models for MGD can be a valuable resource to advance our understanding of this entity and explore novel diagnostic and therapeutic modalities. Although a lot of literature on rodent MGD models exists, a comprehensive review on rabbit animal models is lacking. Rabbits offer a great advantage over other animals as models for studying both DED and MGD. Rabbits have a widely exposed ocular surface and meibomian gland anatomy comparable with humans, which makes performing dry eye diagnostic tests possible using clinically validated imaging platforms. The existing MGD models in rabbits can broadly be classified as pharmacologically induced and surgically induced models. Most models show keratinization of the meibomian gland orifice with plugging as the final common pathway for developing MGD. Thus, understanding the advantages and disadvantages of each rabbit MGD model can help researchers choose the appropriate experimental plan based on the objective of the study. In this review, we discuss the comparative anatomy of the meibomian glands in humans and rabbits, various rabbit models of MGD, translational applications, unmet needs, and future directions in developing MGD models in rabbits.
干眼症（DED）是一个新兴的全球健康问题，其中睑板腺功能障碍（MGD）是DED 的最常见亚型。尽管 MGD 非常普遍，但控制其的病理生理机制仍了解甚少。MGD 的动物模型可以成为推进我们对该实体的理解并探索新的诊断和治疗方法的宝贵资源。尽管有大量关于啮齿动物 MGD 模型的文献，但缺乏对兔动物模型的综合综述。兔子作为研究 DED 和 MGD 的模型比其他动物具有更大的优势。兔子的眼部表面广泛暴露，睑板腺解剖结构与人相似，这使得使用经过临床验证的成像平台进行干眼诊断测试成为可能。现有的兔 MGD 模型大致可分为药理学诱导和手术诱导模型。大多数模型显示出睑板腺口的角化和栓子形成，这是 MGD 发展的最终共同途径。因此，了解每种兔 MGD 模型的优缺点可以帮助研究人员根据研究目的选择合适的实验方案。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了人类和兔子的睑板腺比较解剖学、各种兔 MGD 模型、转化应用、未满足的需求以及开发兔 MGD 模型的未来方向。
