Insights into Tear Film Stability from Babies and Young Adults: A Study of Human Meibum Lipid Conformation and Rheology. Int J Mol Sci 2018 Nov 07;19(11)
Date
11/09/2018Pubmed ID
30405031Pubmed Central ID
PMC6275043DOI
10.3390/ijms19113502Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85056402265 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 14 CitationsAbstract
Babies have the most stable tears and people with dry eye have the least stable tears. Meibum may contribute to tear film stability, so in this study, the hydrocarbon chain conformation and rheology of meibum from babies was studied for the first time. Infrared spectroscopy was used to measure lipid phase transitions. Rheology was measured using Langmuir film technology. Meibum from 25 donors 1 to 13 years old was compared with meibum from 18 donors 13 to 25 years old. The phase transition temperature and lipid order (stiffness) increased with increasing age from 1 to 25 years. The increase in meibum lipid order from 1 to 25 years of age may contribute to the instability of the tear film with age and contribute to films with a higher reciprocal compressibility modulus that are not as compressible and not as viscoelastic. Changes in the lipid phase transition parameters of meibum lipid with dry eye are an exacerbation of the changes observed with age. The lower reciprocal compressibility moduli of meibum films from children and babies compared with meibum from adults reiterates higher stability in their films which spread better, resist deformation, and facilitates their ability to be quickly restored after blinking.
Author List
Mudgil P, Borchman D, Ramasubramanian AAuthor
Aparna Ramasubramanian MD Associate Professor in the Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AdolescentAdult
Child
Child, Preschool
Female
Humans
Infant
Lipids
Male
Molecular Conformation
Phase Transition
Pressure
Rheology
Tears
Temperature
Tissue Donors
Young Adult
