Original articleItchy-Dry Eye Associated with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
Section snippets
Study Protocol
This study was carried out with approval from the Institutional Review Board and the intramural committee. Written informed consent was obtained from all subjects. From March 2005 through March 2006, we evaluated 62 consecutive women (mean age ± standard deviation, 25.4 to 5.27 years) with a diagnosis of polycystic ovaries detected by ultrasonography. The presence of ocular symptoms (dryness, itching, tearing, hyperemia, burning, foreign body sensation, photophobia, and secretion/mucous
Results
Sixteen of 62 patients were diagnosed with PCOS according to the Rotterdam 2003 criteria, whereas the remaining 46 patients were diagnosed with echographic evidence of PCO only without clinical or biochemical evidence of hyperandrogenism.
Twenty (32.3%) of 62 PCO/PCOS patients had bilateral ocular signs and symptoms at presentation: 15 of the 16 women with PCOS (93.7%) and five of the 46 PCO patients (10.8%). These symptoms manifested approximately three years (mean, 38 ± 23 months) after the
Discussion
We describe the presence of conjunctival hyperemia, follicular reaction, mucus hypersecretion, and occasional superficial punctate keratopathy associated with itching, dryness, contact lens intolerance, and foreign body sensation in 94% of young women with PCOS. In these patients, ocular signs and symptoms were manifested approximately three years after the first ultrasonographic finding of PCO.
These signs and symptoms could be ascribed to two distinct entities, ocular allergy and dry eye, yet
Stefano Bonini, MD, is a Professor and Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Rome “Campus Bio-Medico”, since 2002. He received his medical degree from University of Rome where he completed his residency program in Ophthalmology and in Allergology and Clinical Immunology. Dr Bonini then completed a three year research fellowship at the Schepens Eye Research Institute in Boston, Massachusetts, where he was trained by Dr Mathea R. Allansmith in Ocular Allergy.
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2019, Progress in Retinal and Eye ResearchCitation Excerpt :Conjunctival samples of patients with complete androgen insensitivity syndrome showed an unchanged number of GCs, but a decrease of MUC1 and MUC5AC expression compared to controls (Mantelli et al., 2007). Women with polycystic ovary syndrome were shown to have increased conjunctival GCs and increased MUC5AC secretion than patients with polycystic ovary or healthy subjects (Bonini et al., 2007). However, in ovariectomized mice, hormone replacement therapy with estrogen and/or progesterone failed to show a modulation of MUC5AC and MUC4 in ocular surface epithelium (Lange et al., 2003).
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2017, Ocular SurfaceCitation Excerpt :Allergic eye diseases and DED are distinct clinical entities but some overlapping features suggest a complex interaction of mechanisms involving the immune, endocrine and nervous systems. Vitamin A regulates epithelial growth, cell proliferation and differentiation [1071,1072]. Systemic vitamin A insufficiency remains an important cause of childhood mortality and blindness in many low-to middle income countries [1073,1074].
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2017, Ocular SurfaceCitation Excerpt :This is relevant because it may link higher levels of sex hormones to lower action of insulin on the ocular surface and lacrimal gland. This linkage may help explain the stimulus for DED symptoms during the peaks of sex hormones in the follicular and luteal phase of the menstrual cycle and in polycystic ovary syndrome [313,608,842,844,845]. Overall, sex hormones play a significant role in modulating the activities of GH, IGF-1 and insulin.
Stefano Bonini, MD, is a Professor and Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Rome “Campus Bio-Medico”, since 2002. He received his medical degree from University of Rome where he completed his residency program in Ophthalmology and in Allergology and Clinical Immunology. Dr Bonini then completed a three year research fellowship at the Schepens Eye Research Institute in Boston, Massachusetts, where he was trained by Dr Mathea R. Allansmith in Ocular Allergy.
Alessandro Lambiase, MD, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Ophthalmology of the University of Rome “Campus Bio-Medico”. He received his medical degree from University of Rome “Tor Vergata” where he completed his residency program in Ophthalmology and his PhD program in Advanced Technology in Bio-Medicine. Dr Lambiase completed a five year research fellowship at the Institute of Neurobiology of the National Research Institute where he was trained by the Nobel Prize Professor Rita Levi-Montalcini.