Corneal Epithelial Dendritic Cells: An Objective Indicator for Ocular Surface Inflammation in Patients with Obstructive Meibomian Gland Dysfunction?

Purpose: To examine whether corneal epithelial dendritic cells (CEDC) could serve as an indicator to distinguish obstructive meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) with or without ocular surface inflammation (OSI).

Methods: We performed a case-control study on patients with diagnosed obstructive MGD between August 2017 and November 2019.

Results: 30 MGD cases and 25 healthy controls were recruited. The classification of MGD patients with and without OSI was based on the tear pro-inflammatory cytokine levels. Compared with the MGD without OSI and the control group, a higher CEDC density was detected in the MGD with OSI subgroup. The presence of >15.6 cells/mm CEDC had a sensitivity of 73% and specificity of 75% for the diagnosis of MGD with OSI.

Conclusions: OSI is not present in all patients with obstructive MGD. Evaluation of CEDC density in the central cornea may help identify whether MGD is concomitant with OSI.