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/mm2 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.