Corneal Dendritic Cell Density Is Associated with Subbasal Nerve Plexus Features, Ocular Surface Disease Index, and Serum Vitamin D in Evaporative Dry Eye Disease.

Abstract	Dry eye disease (DED) has evolved into a major public health concern with ocular discomfort and pain being responsible for significant morbidity associated with DED. However, the etiopathological factors contributing to ocular pain associated with DED are not well understood. The current IVCM based study investigated the association between corneal dendritic cell density (DCD), corneal subbasal nerve plexus (SBNP) features, and serum vitamin D and symptoms of evaporative dry eye (EDE). The study included age and sex matched 52 EDE patients and 43 heathy controls. A significant increase in the OSDI scores (discomfort subscale) was observed between EDE (median, 20.8) and control (median, 4.2) cohorts (P < 0.001). Similarly, an increase in DCD was observed between EDE (median, 48.1 cells/mm(2)) patients and controls (median, 5.6 cells/mm(2)) (P < 0.001). A significant decrease in SBNP features (corneal nerve fiber length, fiber density, fiber width, total branch density, nerve branch density, and fiber area) was observed in EDE patients with OSDI score >23 (P < 0.05). A positive correlation was observed between DCD and OSDI discomfort subscale (r = 0.348; P < 0.0003) and SBNP features. An inverse correlation was observed between vitamin D and OSDI scores (r = -0.332; P = 0.0095) and DCD with dendritic processes (r = -0.322; P = 0.0122). The findings implicate DCD, SBNP features, and vitamin D with EDE symptoms.
Authors	Rohit Shetty, Swaminathan Sethu, Rashmi Deshmukh, Kalyani Deshpande, Arkasubhra Ghosh, Aarti Agrawal, Rushad Shroff
Journal	BioMed research international (Biomed Res Int) Vol. 2016 Pg. 4369750 ( 2016) ISSN: 2314-6141 [Electronic] United States
PMID	26904676 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
Chemical References	Vitamin D
Topics	Adult Aged Cell Count Cornea (pathology) Dendritic Cells (pathology) Dry Eye Syndromes (blood, pathology) Female Healthy Volunteers Humans Male Middle Aged Nerve Fibers (pathology) Pain (blood, pathology) Vitamin D (blood)

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