PURPOSE This study was conducted to seek sex differences in mRNA expression in normal mouse lacrimal glands. Gene expression differences in the lacrimal gland may contribute to susceptibility to lacrimal gland or ocular surface disease. METHODS A differential display analysis was performed on poly(A)+ RNA isolated from male and female Swiss Webster mouse exorbital lacrimal glands. Four potent...

Chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD), a serious complication following allogeneic HSCT (hematopoietic stem cell transplantation), is characterized by systemic fibrosis. The tissue renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is involved in the fibrotic pathogenesis, and an angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1R) antagonist can attenuate fibrosis. Tissue RAS is present in the lacrimal gland, lung, and live...

Sjögren syndrome is an autoimmune disease characterized by targeted destruction of the lacrimal and salivary glands resulting in symptoms of severe ocular and oral dryness. Despite its prevalence, the mechanisms driving autoimmune manifestations are unclear. In patients and in the nonobese diabetic (NOD) mouse model of Sjögren syndrome, lymphocytic infiltrates consist of CD4 and CD8 T cells, al...

THE discharge of tears from an abnormally placed orifice was first reported by Sir William Mackenzie (1830). In his case the cutaneous orifice lay close to the lacrimal gland and appears to have been a fistula of the lacrimal gland itself. Over fifty years later Moritz (1898) reported a cutaneous orifice discharging tears and placed at some distance from the lacrimal gland complex. This latter ...

Heparan sulfate, an extensively sulfated glycosaminoglycan abundant on cell surface proteoglycans, regulates intercellular signaling through its binding to various growth factors and receptors. In the lacrimal gland, branching morphogenesis depends on the interaction of heparan sulfate with Fgf10-Fgfr2b. To address if lacrimal gland development and FGF signaling depends on 2-O-sulfation of uron...

PURPOSE To determine whether lacrimal gland acinar cells are involved in modulating local immune response; to isolate and characterize a lacrimal gland factor that exerts biological activities on T lymphocytes. METHODS A protein factor has been purified from lacrimal gland extracts by a combination of ion exchange and gel-filtration chromatography. This factor has the capacity to enhance prol...

PURPOSE To explore the sympathetic innervation pattern and the role of sympathetic nervous system control of protein secretion in the exorbital lacrimal glands of normal mice. METHODS Mouse lacrimal glands were processed for single- and double-label indirect immunofluorescence studies to show their innervation patterns. The sucrose-potassium phosphate-glyoxylic acid method was also used to vi...

Mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma is the third most common non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and it is strongly associated with helicobacter pylori infection of the stomach. MALT lymphoma of the lacrimal gland usually presents as a localized disease process in extranodal tissues. The treatment options of MALT lymphoma of the lacrimal gland chiefly include radiation of the tumor, chemotherap...

PURPOSE Dry eye syndrome is a multifactorial chronic disabling disease mainly caused by the functional disruptions in the lacrimal gland. The treatment involves palliation like ocular surface lubrication and rehydration. Cell therapy involving replacement of the gland is a promising alternative for providing long-term relief to patients. This study aimed to establish functionally competent lacr...

Intraocular lacrimal gland tissue is an extremely rare choristoma. A newborn girl was seen with a fleshy, vascular tumor arising from the peripheral iris and the anterior chamber angle. The tumor was treated with topical steroids on suspicion of a juvenile xanthogranuloma; later, it grew slightly and a secondary glaucoma developed. Histopathological examination of the resected tumor showed lacr...