BioMed Research International / 2016 / Article / Tab 1 / Research Article
Corneal Dendritic Cell Density Is Associated with Subbasal Nerve Plexus Features, Ocular Surface Disease Index, and Serum Vitamin D in Evaporative Dry Eye Disease Table 1 (a) Study parameters between control and EDE cohort. (b) Subbasal nerve plexus feature differences based on severity of symptoms in EDE patients.
(a) Control ( ; 43 eyes) EDE ( ; 104 eyes) value Mean Median Range Mean Median Range OSDI Total 15.0 ± 1.5 14.9 0–38.5 28.1 ± 2.5 20.8 2.1–68.8 0.0005 OSDI—discomfort 4.5 ± 0.5 4.2 0–12.5 32.6 ± 3.2 20.8 4.2–83.3 <0.0001 OSDI—vision 6.4 ± 0.8 8.3 0–20.8 23.5 ± 2.4 20.8 0–70.8 <0.0001 TBUT 10.7 ± 0.3 10 7–15 7.0 ± 0.2 7 1–12 <0.0001 Dendritic cells Total cells (cells/mm2 ) 9.1 ± 1.3 5.6 0–36.8 52.9 ± 4.0 48.1 7–261.2 <0.0001 DCs with dendrites (cells/mm2 ) 1.0 ± 0.2 0 0–4 13.0 ± 1.2 8.5 0–54.6 <0.0001 DCs without dendrites (cells/mm2 ) 8.1 ± 1.2 5.2 0–35.4 39.9 ± 3.2 29.8 7–235 <0.0001 Subbasal nerve plexus CNFL (length in mm/mm2 ) 17.0 ± 0.4 17.7 7.1–22.3 16.5 ± 0.3 16.27 8.09–22.98 ns CNFD (major nerves/mm2 ) 28.6 ± 0.8 29.7 12.5–40 27.2 ± 0.6 27.5 5–43.75 ns CNFW (average nerve fiber width/mm2 ) 0.0211 ± 0.0002 0.0209 0.0186–0.0254 0.0211 ± 0.00009 0.021 0.0184–0.0237 ns CTBD (branch points/mm2 ) 58.4 ± 3.2 58.75 3.7–103.7 56.8 ± 2.5 52.5 15–123.7 ns CNBD (number of branches/mm2 ) 40.9 ± 2.3 42.35 1.2–83.7 39.0 ± 1.7 37.5 3.75–81.24 ns CNFA (total nerve fiber area/mm2 ) 0.0066 ± 0.0002 0.0066 0.002–0.0111 0.0068 ± 0001 0.00665 0.0034–0.0134 ns
EDE: evaporative dry eye; OSDI: ocular surface disease index; TBUT: tear break-up time; DCs: dendritic cells; CNFL: corneal nerve fiber length; CNFD: corneal nerve fiber density; CNFW: corneal nerve fiber width; CTBD: corneal total branch density; CNBD: corneal nerve branch density; CNFA: corneal nerve fiber area; ns: not statistically significant; value compared to controls (Mann-Whitney test). (b) EDE (OSDI score < 23) eyes valueEDE (OSDI score > 23) eyes value Mean Median Range Mean Median Range Subbasal nerve plexus CNFL (length in mm/mm2 ) 16.9 ± 0.3 17.7 7.1–22.3 ns 15.9 ± 0.4 15.8 8.09–22.3 0.0165 ; 0.04# CNFD (major nerves/mm2 ) 27.9 ± 0.7 28.7 15–42.5 ns 26.2 ± 1.0 27.5 5–43.75 0.0447 ; ns# CNFW (average nerve fiber width/mm2 ) 0.0210 ± 0.0001 0.021 0.0193–0.0233 ns 0.0211 ± 0.0001 0.021 0.0184–0.0237 0.6107 ; ns# CTBD (branch points/mm2 ) 61.5 ± 3.5 59.3 15–123.7 ns 50.8 ± 3.4 48.7 15–111.2 0.0398 ; 0.04# CNBD (number of branches/mm2 ) 42.7 ± 2.3 41.2 11.2–81.2 ns 34.3 ± 2.6 32.5 3.75–78.7 0.0208 ; 0.01# CNFA (total nerve fiber area/mm2 ) 0.0071 ± 0.0002 0.0069 0.0035–0.0134 ns 0.0064 ± 0002 0.0063 0.0034–0.0119 0.4098 ; ns#
EDE: evaporative dry eye; OSDI: ocular surface disease index; CNFL: corneal nerve fiber length; CNFD: corneal nerve fiber density; CNFW: corneal nerve fiber width; CTBD: corneal total branch density; CNBD: corneal nerve branch density; CNFA: corneal nerve fiber area; ns: not statistically significant; value compared to controls (Mann-Whitney test); # value compared to EDE—OSDI score < 23 (Mann-Whitney test).