Work

Changes in Human Meibum Lipid Composition with Age Using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

Year: 2011

Type: article

Abstract: PURPOSE: Human tear film stability decreases with increasing age. In this study, the changes in meibum composition were measured in search of markers of tear film instability. METHODS: (1)H NMR nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra of 43 normal donors aged 1 to 88 years were acquired. RESULTS: Compared with meibum from adolescents and adults, meibum from infants and children contains less CH(3) and C═C groups and an increased aldehyde-to-lipid hydroperoxide ratio. CONCLUSIONS: It is reasonable that tear film stability is higher in infants than in adults. Their meibum contains less CH(3) and C═C groups and higher levels of protein, and as a result, the lipid is more ordered because of the tighter and stronger lipid-lipid interactions. For water to evaporate, it must first pass through the tight lipid-lipid barrier. For tears to break up, lipid-lipid interactions must be broken. It is reasonable that because the lipid-lipid interactions are stronger in infants' and children's tears compared with those of adolescents and adults, the tear film in the younger groups is more stable and provides a better barrier to evaporation than does the tear film of adults. Lipid saturation could be the critical feature in meibum that stabilizes tears in infants.

Source: Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science

DOI: 10.1167/iovs.11-8341

Authors: Douglas Borchman, Gary N. Foulks, Marta C. Yappert, Sarah E. Milliner

Institutions: University of Louisville, Louisville VA Medical Center

Language: English

Topic: Ocular Surface and Contact Lens

Subfield: Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Research to Prevent Blindness, Ögonfonden, National Eye Institute