Influence of sex hormones and genetic predisposition in dry eye in Sjèogren's syndrome: a new clue to the immunopathogenesis of dry eye disease

• Other Authors: Mostafa, Safinaz
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Florida Atlantic University
• Subjects: Dry eye syndromes > Immunological aspects; Sjèogren's syndrome > Immunological aspects; Disease susceptibility; Human genome; Medical genetics
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3353086

Sjèogren's syndrome (S) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by ocular and oral dryness and primarily affects post menopausal women. In the present study we investigated the time course of lymphocytic infiltration, apoptosis, caspase-3 activity and different cytokines levels in the lacrimal glands of both genetically predisposed and control mice to elucidate immunopathological mechanism leading to dry eye. The results of our experiments showed that ovariectomy accelerated pathological findings of SS by increasing lympocytic infiltration, cytokine production, lacrimal gland cell death and cleaved caspase-3 activity, and these effects were more pronounced and persistent in the genetically predisposed mouse model of SS. In addition, we observed that lymphocytic infiltration occurred earlier compared to apoptosis which may perpetuate immune mediated destruction of lacrimal epithelial cells. Furthermore, treatment with physioloigical doses of 17-B Estradiol (E2) or DIhydrotestosterone (DHT) prevented all these pathological events observed after ovariectomy. === by Safinaz Mostafa. === Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2011. === Includes bibliography. === Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2011. Mode of access: World Wide Web.