Immune cells that normally rush in to protect the eyes from infection might actually be disrupting moisturizing glands and causing dry eye, a disease that afflicts more than 30 million people in the United States.
This finding from a research team led by Duke Eye Center could lead to more effective therapies for dry eyes instead of treatments that only address symptoms.
“This study shows that some forms of Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) are inflammatory diseases, and our studies in mice confirm what we see in the tears of people with blocked glands,” said Duke ophthalmologist Preeya K. Gupta, M.D., a co-author of the study published July 25 in the journal Science Translational Medicine. “This pathway may be a new target for therapeutic agents to help treat patients suffering from dry eye disease and MGD.”
Read the entire press release via Duke Eye Center.
Everyone knows that the human eye is made up of distinct parts and regions—the cornea, the retina, the optic nerve, and so on. It is less commonly understood, says Daniel Saban, PhD, that funding for research and treatment of eye disorders tends to be similarly divided and compartmentalized.
That’s why a recent $500,000 gift from Miracles In Sight to Duke Eye Center to support early career faculty research into diseases and disorders of the cornea is so important. The support, Saban says, brings together two rare but critical resources: funding for corneal research and expert scientists with the knowledge and skills to make important advances.
Read the entire article in Duke Eye Center’s 2017 Vision Magazine.
Vision 2017
Everyone knows that the human eye is made up of distinct parts and regions — the cornea, the retina, the optic nerve, and so on. It is less commonly understood, says Daniel Saban, PhD, that funding for research and treatment of eye disorders tends to be similarly divided and compartmentalized.
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