Stopfer Michael, Zahn Ingrid, Jüngert Katharina, Aumüller Gerhard, Moll Frans L, Schicht Martin, Makarenkova Helen P, de Paiva Cintia S, Paulsen Friedrich P
Institute of Functional and Clinical Anatomy, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Universitätsstr. 19, Erlangen, Germany.
Philipps-University Marburg, Am Möhrengarten 1, 35117, Münchhausen, Germany.
Prog Retin Eye Res. 2025 May;106:101362. doi: 10.1016/j.preteyeres.2025.101362. Epub 2025 May 5.
Over the last 20 years, research into the Meibomian glands of the eyelids has increased exponentially and is now widely recognized as a field of research. It is all the more astonishing that knowledge about another type of gland in the eyelids, the Moll glands or ciliary glands, has almost stagnated and there has been little to almost no progress, even though this type of gland as a whole takes up a relatively large volume in the upper and lower eyelids. There is not much information about the namesake Moll or the function of the glands although these are listed in nearly every textbook of anatomy, histology and ophthalmology. For this reason, we set out to compile the existing knowledge about the Moll glands of the eyelids in order to create a basis for follow-up studies and to stimulate research into this type of gland. In our literature research, we went back to the middle of the 19th century and made contact with a descendant of the Moll family and illustrate their relevance for the present. The structure of the secretory part of the Moll glands is very well described, a number of secretory products are known, but the current state of research allows only very rough speculations about their function. The overview provides numerous interesting insights, which, however, raise more questions than they provide answers.
在过去20年里，对眼睑睑板腺的研究呈指数级增长，如今已被广泛认可为一个研究领域。然而令人惊讶的是，尽管眼睑中的另一种腺体——Moll腺或睫腺在上下眼睑中总体占据相对较大的体积，但对其的了解几乎停滞不前，几乎没有进展。关于以其命名的Moll其人或这些腺体的功能，虽然几乎每本解剖学、组织学和眼科学教材中都有提及，但相关信息并不多。因此，我们着手汇编有关眼睑Moll腺的现有知识，以便为后续研究奠定基础，并激发对这类腺体的研究。在文献研究中，我们追溯到19世纪中叶，并与Moll家族的一位后裔取得联系，以阐述它们与当下的相关性。Moll腺分泌部的结构已有很好的描述，已知一些分泌产物，但目前的研究状况仅允许对其功能进行非常粗略的推测。这一综述提供了许多有趣的见解，然而，提出的问题比给出的答案更多。
