| First Author | Leppin K | Year | 2014 |
| Journal | Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci | Volume | 55 |
| Issue | 6 | Pages | 3603-15 |
| PubMed ID | 24781935 | Mgi Jnum | J:229856 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:5754687 | Doi | 10.1167/iovs.14-14307 |
| Citation | Leppin K, et al. (2014) Diabetes mellitus leads to accumulation of dendritic cells and nerve fiber damage of the subbasal nerve plexus in the cornea. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 55(6):3603-15 |
| abstractText | PURPOSE: To evaluate whether nerve fibers of the subbasal nerve plexus (SNP) and dendritic cells (DCs) are in association with each other leading to neuropathy in the diabetic cornea. METHODS: BALB/c mice were injected with streptozotocin (STZ) for 5 days for induction of diabetes mellitus (DM) or with vehicle solution (control). B6.VLep(ob/ob) (ob/ob) mice served as an obese and glucose-intolerant DM type 2 (DM II) model and lean B6.VLep(ob/+) (ob/+) mice as respective controls. Using in vivo corneal confocal microscopy (CCM), nerve fibers and DCs were quantified over a period of 9 weeks and additionally analyzed by in vitro immunofluorescence whole-mount staining. RESULTS: In STZ-diabetic mice, CCM revealed an increase of DC density (DCD) in contrast to controls, whereas nerve fiber density (NFD) was decreased with duration of DM. In ob/ob mice, DCD was 3-fold higher than in both ob/+ mice and STZ-diabetic mice. Whole-mount staining displayed CD11c(+) and major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II(+) mature DCs in colocalization with class III beta-tubulin(+) nerve fibers in the cornea. CONCLUSIONS: Hyperglycemia leads to corneal DC infiltration, and obesity aggravates this immune response. The direct contact between DCs and the SNP can be assumed to be a trigger of nerve fiber damage and thus a contributing factor to polyneuropathy in diabetic corneas. |
