-
BMJ Case Reports Apr 2022Mucus fishing syndrome is a chronic inflammatory ocular surface condition characterised by repetitive self-extraction of mucous strands from the eye.A man in his 30s...
Mucus fishing syndrome is a chronic inflammatory ocular surface condition characterised by repetitive self-extraction of mucous strands from the eye.A man in his 30s presented with bilateral ocular redness, itch, irritation, tearing and sticky mucoid discharge for 3 months. Examination disclosed bilateral bulbar and tarsal conjunctival injection. Fluorescein staining disclosed a well-circumscribed area of tarsal conjunctival epithelial defect near the inferior lacrimal punctum in both eyes. The patient admitted to a habit of mechanically removing mucus from his eyes several times a day. Demonstration of the mucus extraction process disclosed direct contact of his fingers with the excoriated tarsal conjunctiva in each eye. He was diagnosed with mucus fishing syndrome and his condition resolved within a month after he stopped fishing mucus from his eyes and had a course of topical antibiotics and steroids.Mucus fishing syndrome is an important diagnostic consideration in patients with chronic conjunctivitis.
Topics: Humans; Male; Conjunctiva; Conjunctivitis; Eye Diseases; Mucus; Syndrome
PubMed: 35396241
DOI: 10.1136/bcr-2022-249188 -
Cell Stem Cell Feb 2024The conjunctival epithelium covering the eye contains two main cell types: mucus-producing goblet cells and water-secreting keratinocytes, which present mucins on their...
The conjunctival epithelium covering the eye contains two main cell types: mucus-producing goblet cells and water-secreting keratinocytes, which present mucins on their apical surface. Here, we describe long-term expanding organoids and air-liquid interface representing mouse and human conjunctiva. A single-cell RNA expression atlas of primary and cultured human conjunctiva reveals that keratinocytes express multiple antimicrobial peptides and identifies conjunctival tuft cells. IL-4/-13 exposure increases goblet and tuft cell differentiation and drastically modifies the conjunctiva secretome. Human NGFR+ basal cells are identified as bipotent conjunctiva stem cells. Conjunctival cultures can be infected by herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV1), human adenovirus 8 (hAdV8), and SARS-CoV-2. HSV1 infection was reversed by acyclovir addition, whereas hAdV8 infection, which lacks an approved drug therapy, was inhibited by cidofovir. We document transcriptional programs induced by HSV1 and hAdV8. Finally, conjunctival organoids can be transplanted. Together, human conjunctiva organoid cultures enable the study of conjunctival (patho)-physiology.
Topics: Humans; Mice; Animals; Conjunctiva; Goblet Cells; Epithelium; Interleukin-13; Homeostasis; Organoids
PubMed: 38215738
DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2023.12.008 -
Ophthalmic Research 2022Pterygium is a kind of common conjunctival degeneration. The pathogenesis of pterygium is complex, and various biomarkers provide new targets for treatment and... (Review)
Review
Pterygium is a kind of common conjunctival degeneration. The pathogenesis of pterygium is complex, and various biomarkers provide new targets for treatment and prognosis. Currently, the most common treatment for pterygium is surgical excision, but it is invasive risk and has a high recurrence rate. Since the development of sequencing, gene chip technology, and proteomics technologies has been rapid, research on the internal mechanism of disease has been facilitated. This review focuses on recent advances in the discovery of biomarkers from the fields of genetics, proteomics, and epigenetics and their likely functional mechanisms and clinical applications in pterygium.
Topics: Biomarkers; Conjunctiva; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Pterygium; Recurrence; Transplantation, Autologous
PubMed: 35405677
DOI: 10.1159/000523878 -
Survey of Ophthalmology 2022There are currently no effective methods to prevent or durably treat ocular symblephara, the adhesions between the palpebral and bulbar conjunctiva. How symblephara form... (Review)
Review
There are currently no effective methods to prevent or durably treat ocular symblephara, the adhesions between the palpebral and bulbar conjunctiva. How symblephara form at the molecular level is largely unknown. We present here an overview of current clinical symblephara treatments and describe potential molecular mechanisms behind conjunctival adhesion formation that may inform future symblephara treatment and prevention options. Understanding how symblephara form at the molecular level will facilitate treatment development. Preventative therapies may be possible by targeting symblephara progenitor cells immediately after injuries, while novel therapeutics should be aimed at modulating TGF-β pathways and effector cells in conjunctival scarring to treat symblephara formation more effectively.
Topics: Conjunctiva; Conjunctival Diseases; Eyelid Diseases; Humans; Stem Cells
PubMed: 33932469
DOI: 10.1016/j.survophthal.2021.04.008 -
Disease Markers 2022Bulbar conjunctival microcirculation is a microvascular system distributed in the translucent bulbar conjunctiva near the corneal limbus. Multiple ocular diseases lead... (Review)
Review
Bulbar conjunctival microcirculation is a microvascular system distributed in the translucent bulbar conjunctiva near the corneal limbus. Multiple ocular diseases lead to bulbar conjunctival microcirculation alterations, which means that bulbar conjunctival microcirculation alterations would be potential screening and diagnostic indicators for these ocular diseases. In recent years, with the emergence and application of a variety of noninvasive observation devices for bulbar conjunctiva microcirculation and new image processing technologies, studies that explored the potential of bulbar conjunctival microcirculation alterations in the diagnosis of ocular diseases have been emerging. However, the potential of bulbar conjunctival microcirculation alterations as indicators for ocular diseases has not been exploited to full advantage. The observation devices, image processing methods, and algorithms are not unified. And large-scale research is needed to concrete bulbar conjunctival microcirculation alterations as indicators for ocular diseases. In this paper, we provide an update on the progress of bulbar conjunctival microcirculation alterations in the diagnosis of ocular diseases in recent five years (from January 2017 to March 2022). Relevant ocular diseases include contact lens wearing, dry eye, conjunctival malignant melanoma, conjunctival nevus, and diabetic retinopathy.
Topics: Conjunctiva; Humans; Microcirculation
PubMed: 36072898
DOI: 10.1155/2022/4046809 -
Clinical & Experimental Optometry May 2018
Topics: Conjunctiva; Conjunctival Diseases; Diagnosis, Differential; Female; Humans; Lymphangiectasis; Slit Lamp Microscopy; Tomography, Optical Coherence; Young Adult
PubMed: 29232763
DOI: 10.1111/cxo.12647 -
Scientific Reports Mar 2018Conjunctivochalasis is a common cause of tear dysfunction due to the conjunctiva becoming loose and wrinkly with age. The current solutions to this disease include...
Conjunctivochalasis is a common cause of tear dysfunction due to the conjunctiva becoming loose and wrinkly with age. The current solutions to this disease include either surgical excision in the operating room, or thermoreduction of the loose tissue with hot wire in the clinic. We developed a near-infrared laser thermal conjunctivoplasty system. The system utilizes a 1460-nm programmable laser diode system as the light source. At this wavelength, a water absorption peak exists and the blood absorption is minimal, so the heating of redundant conjunctiva is even and there is no bleeding. A miniaturized handheld probe delivers the laser light and reshapes the laser into a 10 × 1 mm line on the working plane. A foot pedal is used to deliver a preset number of calibrated laser pulses. A fold of loose conjunctiva is grasped by a pair of forceps. The NIR laser light is delivered through an optical fiber and a laser line is aimed exactly on the conjunctival fold by a cylindrical lens. Ex vivo experiments using porcine eye was performed to investigate the induced shrinkage of conjunctiva and decide the optimal laser parameters. It was found that up to 45% of conjunctiva shrinkage could be achieved.
Topics: Animals; Conjunctiva; Conjunctival Diseases; Eye; Laser Therapy; Light; Ophthalmologic Surgical Procedures; Swine
PubMed: 29497112
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-22204-0 -
Arquivos Brasileiros de Oftalmologia 2020The aim of the present study was to measure the free carnitine and acylcarnitine levels in pterygium tissue and normal conjunctival tissue at the metabolomics level...
PURPOSE
The aim of the present study was to measure the free carnitine and acylcarnitine levels in pterygium tissue and normal conjunctival tissue at the metabolomics level using tandem mass spectrometry.
METHODS
In this prospective, clinical randomized study, pterygium tissues and normal conjunctival tissues taken during pterygium excision with autograft were compared regarding their free carnitine and acylcarnitine profiles. After tissue homogenization, carnitine levels were measured using tandem mass spectrometry. The data were statistically analyzed with the Wilcoxon signed-rank test.
RESULTS
Pterygium and normal conjunctival tissue samples from a single eye of 29 patients (16 females, 13 males; mean age, 54.75 ± 11.25 years [range, 21-78 years]) were evaluated. While the free carnitine (C0) level was significantly high in the pterygium tissue (p<0.001), acylcarnitine levels were significantly high in some esterized derivatives (C2, C5, C5:1, C5DC, C16:1, C18, methylglutarylcarnitine) (p<0.05). No statistically significant difference was determined for the other esterized derivatives (p>0.05).
CONCLUSION
That the carnitine levels in pterygium tissue were higher suggests that acceleration of cell metabolism developed secondary to chronic inflammation and the premalignant characteristics of pterygium tissue. High carnitine levels may also effectively suppress the apoptosis process. The data reported in our study indicate that further, more extensive studies of the carnitine profile could help clarify the pathogenesis of pterygium.
Topics: Adult; Aged; Carnitine; Conjunctiva; Female; Humans; Male; Metabolomics; Middle Aged; Prospective Studies; Pterygium; Tandem Mass Spectrometry; Young Adult
PubMed: 31531547
DOI: 10.5935/0004-2749.20200001 -
A Tenon's capsule/bulbar conjunctiva interface biomimetic to model fibrosis and local drug delivery.PloS One 2020Glaucoma filtration surgery is one of the most effective methods for lowering intraocular pressure in glaucoma. The surgery efficiently reduces intra-ocular pressure but...
Glaucoma filtration surgery is one of the most effective methods for lowering intraocular pressure in glaucoma. The surgery efficiently reduces intra-ocular pressure but the most common cause of failure is scarring at the incision site. This occurs in the conjunctiva/Tenon's capsule layer overlying the scleral coat of the eye. Currently used antimetabolite treatments to prevent post-surgical scarring are non-selective and are associated with potentially blinding side effects. Developing new treatments to target scarring requires both a better understanding of wound healing and scarring in the conjunctiva, and new means of delivering anti-scarring drugs locally and sustainably. By combining plastic compression of collagen gels with a soft collagen-based layer, we have developed a physiologically relevant model of the sub-epithelial bulbar conjunctiva/Tenon's capsule interface, which allows a more holistic approach to the understanding of subconjunctival tissue behaviour and local drug delivery. The biomimetic tissue hosts both primary human conjunctival fibroblasts and an immune component in the form of macrophages, morphologically and structurally mimicking the mechanical proprieties and contraction kinetics of ex vivo porcine conjunctiva. We show that our model is suitable for the screening of drugs targeting scarring and/or inflammation, and amenable to the study of local drug delivery devices that can be inserted in between the two layers of the biomimetic. We propose that this multicellular-bilayer engineered tissue will be useful to study complex biological aspects of scarring and fibrosis, including the role of inflammation, with potentially significant implications for the management of scarring following glaucoma filtration surgery and other anterior ocular segment scarring conditions. Crucially, it uniquely allows the evaluation of new means of local drug delivery within a physiologically relevant tissue mimetic, mimicking intraoperative drug delivery in vivo.
Topics: Animals; Biomimetic Materials; Biomimetics; Cell Line; Cicatrix; Conjunctiva; Drug Delivery Systems; Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; Feasibility Studies; Fibroblasts; Fibrosis; Filtering Surgery; Glaucoma; Humans; Intraoperative Care; Monocytes; Postoperative Complications; Primary Cell Culture; Swine; Tenon Capsule; Wound Healing
PubMed: 33141875
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0241569 -
The Indian Journal of Medical Research Nov 2020
Topics: Child; Conjunctiva; Developmental Disabilities; Humans; Vascular Diseases; Veins
PubMed: 35345148
DOI: 10.4103/ijmr.IJMR_2167_19