title: Activities of autonomic neurotransmitters in Meibomian gland tissues are associated with menopausal dry eye.
abstract: The secretory activities of meibomian glands are regulated by the autonomic nervous system. The change in density and activity of autonomic nerves in meibomian glands during menopause play an important role in the pathogenesis of dry eye. In view of this, we established a dry eye rat model by removing the bilateral ovaries. We used neuropeptide Y and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide as markers of autonomic neurotransmitters. Our results showed that the concentration of estradiol in serum significantly decreased, the density of neuropeptide Y immunoreactivity in nerve fibers significantly increased, the density of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide immunoreactivity in nerve fibers significantly decreased, and the ratio of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide/neuropeptide Y positive staining significantly decreased. These results suggest that a decrease in ovary activity may lead to autonomic nervous system dysfunction, thereby affecting the secretory activity of the meibomian gland, which participates in sexual hormone imbalance-induced dry eye.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, Laboratory of Basic Medicine, Medical College, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan 056002, Hebei Province, China.
authors.forename: Lianxiang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Medical College, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan 056002, Hebei Province, China.
authors.forename: Dongling
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Medical College, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan 056002, Hebei Province, China.
authors.forename: Jinsheng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Medical College, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan 056002, Hebei Province, China.
authors.forename: Liguang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Medical College, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan 056002, Hebei Province, China.
authors.forename: Xianjun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Medical College, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan 056002, Hebei Province, China.
authors.forename: Jingzhang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, Laboratory of Basic Medicine, Medical College, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan 056002, Hebei Province, China.
authors.forename: Zhongxin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xu
keywords: autonomic nerve; autonomic nervous system dysfunction; dry eye; meibomian gland; meibomian gland dysfunction; neural regeneration; neuropeptide Y; ovariectomy; rats; sexual hormone; vasoactive intestinal polypeptide