Circadian clock regulates tear secretion in the lacrimal gland

The aim of the present study was to report two cases of refractory dry eye syndrome (DES) after transconjunctival excision of the palpebral lobe of the lacrimal gland. A 25-year-old female patient with a chief complaint of a palpable mass in both upper eyelids visited our medical center. Preoperative orbital computer tomography showed high-attenuation lesions in both lacrimal glands. Incisional biopsy of the lacrimal gland palpebral lobe via transconjunctival incision was performed in January 2019. At 1 month after the biopsy, a lack of tears and persistent corneal erosions were found in both eyes. Artificial tears, punctal occlusion, autologous serum eye drops, and therapeutic contact lenses were applied in an attempt to control the dry eye symptoms. The patient continues to suffer from intractable DES at 2.5 years after the procedure. The second case involved a 52-year-old female patient who visited our medical center with a chief complaint of a palpable mass in both upper eyelids. Bilateral orbital tumors were diagnosed with preoperative magnetic resonance imaging. An incisional biopsy of the lacrimal gland was performed. Immunoglobulin G4-related dacryoadenitis was confirmed through lacrimal palpebral lobe incisional biopsy. Intractable DES and corneal erosion of her left eye persisted thereafter. A transconjunctival incision is an effective approach for minimizing postoperative scars and is suitable for the biopsy of tumors that are visible through the conjunctiva. After a biopsy of the palpebral lobe of the main lacrimal glands, the secretion of reflex tears decreases due to damage to the secreting ducts of the main lacrimal glands. However, total tear secretion can be maintained by basal tear secretion from the accessory lacrimal glands. In this report, we describe two cases of refractory DES due to decreased total tear secretion, although only the palpebral lobes of the main lacrimal glands were biopsied.

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Direct visualization of aqueous tear secretion from lacrimal gland

Acta Ophthalmologica ◽

10.1111/aos.13335 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 95 (4) ◽

pp. e314-e322 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Eun Chul Kim ◽

Sang Hee Doh ◽

Se Yoon Chung ◽

Sam Young Yoon ◽

Man Soo Kim ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Lacrimal Gland ◽

Direct Visualization ◽

Tear Secretion

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Tear secretion from the lacrimal gland: variations in normal versus dry eyes

British Journal of Ophthalmology ◽

10.1136/bjophthalmol-2020-318159 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. bjophthalmol-2020-318159

Author(s):

Swati Singh ◽

Swapna S Shanbhag ◽

Sayan Basu

Keyword(s):

Dry Eye ◽

Flow Rate ◽

Lacrimal Gland ◽

Healthy Subjects ◽

Time Lag ◽

Similar Time ◽

Dry Eyes ◽

Tear Secretion ◽

Direct Assessment ◽

Tear Flow

PurposeTo investigate the secretory status of the main lacrimal gland in healthy and dry eye disease (DED) via fluorescein-assisted direct assessment of tear secretion from the palpebral lobes.MethodsIncluded were 25 healthy subjects (50 lobes) and 75 subjects with DED (cicatrising conjunctivitis (CC, n=27), evaporative dry eyes (EDE, n=25) and Sjogren’s syndrome (SS, n=23)). Analysed parameters included number and location of ductular openings, tear flow rate per gland and per ductule, and the time lag for the initiation of secretion.ResultsDuctular openings could be observed in all patients with EDE and healthy subjects whereas only 33% (18/54) glands of CC patients and 67% glands (31/46) patients with SS revealed ductules. The median number of ductules per lobe was 4 in normal (range 3–5), 3 in EDE (3–6), 1 in SS (0–3) and 0 in CC group (0–3) (p<0.000001). The median tear flow rate per lobe in CC (0.00 μL/min) and SS (0.21 μL/min) was significantly lesser than normal lobes (1.05 μL/min, and EDE (0.99 μL/min eyes. The tear flow rate differed significantly between SS and CC group (p<0.0001). The maximum time lag occurred in the CC group (median, 20 s), followed by the SS group (median, 1.5 s) whereas the EDE group had similar time lag (<1 s) as of normal glands (p<0.0001).ConclusionDirect assessment of tear secretion from the palpebral lobe demonstrates significant differences between EDE, aqueous deficient dry eye and dry eye in CC.

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The neural pathway for lacrimal gland tear secretion in New Zealand White rabbits

Neuroscience Letters ◽

10.1016/j.neulet.2017.04.012 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 649 ◽

pp. 14-19

Author(s):

Jiaojiao Wang ◽

Rongyi Zhou ◽

Weiping Gao

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Lacrimal Gland ◽

Neural Pathway ◽

Tear Secretion ◽

New Zealand White Rabbits

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Identification of Lacrimal Gland Postganglionic Innervation and Its Regulation of Tear Secretion

American Journal Of Pathology ◽

10.1016/j.ajpath.2020.01.007 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 190 (5) ◽

pp. 1068-1079 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Kai Jin ◽

Toshihiro Imada ◽

Ryuji Hisamura ◽

Masataka Ito ◽

Haruki Toriumi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Lacrimal Gland ◽

Tear Secretion

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Microarray analysis of the rat lacrimal gland following the loss of parasympathetic control of secretion

Physiological Genomics ◽

10.1152/physiolgenomics.00011.2004 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

pp. 108-118 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Doan H. Nguyen ◽

Hiroshi Toshida ◽

Jill Schurr ◽

Roger W. Beuerman

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Light Microscopy ◽

Microarray Analysis ◽

Dna Microarray ◽

Lacrimal Gland ◽

Clinical Symptoms ◽

Tear Secretion ◽

Dna Microarray Analysis ◽

Extracellular Matrix Components ◽

Log Ratio

Previous studies showed that loss of muscarinic parasympathetic input to the lacrimal gland (LG) leads to a dramatic reduction in tear secretion and profound changes to LG structure. In this study, we used DNA microarrays to examine the regulation of the gene expression of the genes for secretory function and organization of the LG. Long-Evans rats anesthetized with a mixture of ketamine/xylazine (80:10 mg/kg) underwent unilateral sectioning of the greater superficial petrosal nerve, the input to the pterygopalatine ganglion. After 7 days, tear secretion was measured, the animals were killed, and structural changes in the LG were examined by light microscopy. Total RNA from control and experimental LGs ( n = 5) was used for DNA microarray analysis employing the U34A GeneChip. Three statistical algorithms (detection, change call, and signal log ratio) were used to determine differential gene expression using the Microarray Suite (5.0) and Data Mining Tools (3.0). Tear secretion was significantly reduced and corneal ulcers developed in all experimental eyes. Light microscopy showed breakdown of the acinar structure of the LG. DNA microarray analysis showed downregulation of genes associated with the endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi, including genes involved in protein folding and processing. Conversely, transcripts for cytoskeleton and extracellular matrix components, inflammation, and apoptosis were upregulated. The number of significantly upregulated genes (116) was substantially greater than the number of downregulated genes ( 49 ). Removal of the main secretory input to the rat LG resulted in clinical symptoms associated with severe dry eye. Components of the secretory pathway were negatively affected, and the increase in cell proliferation and inflammation may lead to loss of organization in the parasympathectomized lacrimal gland.

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Tear secretion and lacrimal gland function of rabbits treated with isotretinoin

Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology ◽

10.1016/s0190-9622(88)70172-3 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 19 (2) ◽

pp. 280-285 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Vivian Rismondo ◽

John L. Ubels ◽

Thomas B. Osgood

Keyword(s):

Lacrimal Gland ◽

Tear Secretion ◽

Gland Function

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New insight into lacrimal gland function: Role of the duct epithelium in tear secretion

The Ocular Surface ◽

10.1016/j.jtos.2020.07.002 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 18 (4) ◽

pp. 595-603

Author(s):

Edit Tóth-Molnár ◽

Chuanqing Ding

Keyword(s):

Lacrimal Gland ◽

Tear Secretion ◽

Duct Epithelium ◽

Gland Function ◽

Insight Into

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Reduced Expression of VAMP8 in Lacrimal Gland Affected by Chronic Graft-versus-Host Disease

Journal of Ophthalmology ◽

10.1155/2017/1639012 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 2017 ◽

pp. 1-10 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Masaki Fukui ◽

Yoko Ogawa ◽

Shin Mukai ◽

Mizuka Kamoi ◽

Teru Asato ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Graft Versus Host Disease ◽

Lacrimal Gland ◽

Chronic Gvhd ◽

Mrna Level ◽

Diagnostic Purpose ◽

Snare Protein ◽

Host Disease ◽

Tear Secretion ◽

Graft Versus Host ◽

Tissue Sections

Purpose. To investigate whether the SNARE protein vesicle-associated membrane protein 8 (VAMP8) was implicated in the development of chronic ocular graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Methods. Firstly, the chronic GVHD (cGVHD) and Sjögren’s syndrome (SS)-impaired lacrimal gland (LG) tissue sections from humans for diagnostic purpose were evaluated for VAMP8 expression by histopathology and immunohistochemistry. Next, serial changes of tear secretion and VAMP8 expression at both protein and mRNA level of LG in an animal cGVHD model compared with the syngeneic control. Results. Decreased VAMP 8 expression in the cGVHD-affected human LG was detected in comparison with SS-affected LG. Tear secretion in the murine cGVHD model was significantly reduced compared with that in the syngeneic controls 8 weeks after BMT. Protein expression of VAMP8 in the cGVHD-affected LG in murine cGVHD was decreased in comparison with that in the controls. Gene expression of VAMP8 in the cGVHD-affected murine LG was significantly less than that in the syngeneic control 3 weeks after BMT. Conclusions. Our results suggested that expression of VAMP8 in the cGVHD-affected LG was decreased and accordingly tear secretion in cGVHD was reduced. Collectively, the reduction of VAMP8 expression in the cGVHD-affected LG can be involved in the pathogenic processes of cGVHD-induced dry eye disease.

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