Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23687433›Full record

ArticleMolecular vision2013

Quantification of MUCIN 1, cell surface associated and MUCIN16, cell surface associated proteins in tears and conjunctival epithelial cells collected from postmenopausal women.

Sruthi Srinivasan, Miriam L Heynen, Elizabeth Martell, Robert Ritter, Lyndon Jones, Michelle Senchyna

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Molecular vision, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
1.0field-weighted citation impact, top 20% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Ocular surface glycocalyx in health and disease.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2025
    Review
  2. Article
  3. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Sruthi SrinivasanCentre for Contact Lens Research, School of Optometry, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. s2sriniv@uwaterloo.ca
Miriam L Heynen
Elizabeth Martell
Robert Ritter
Lyndon Jones
Michelle Senchyna
University of Waterloo · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeTo quantify the expression of mucin 1, cell surface associated (MUC1) and mucin 16, cell surface associated (MUC16) proteins and messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) in a cohort of postmenopausal women (PMW), to explore the relationship between mucin expression, dry eye symptomology, and tear stability.

methodsThirty-nine healthy PMW (>50 years of age) were enrolled in this study. No specific inclusion criteria were used to define dry eye; instead, a range of subjects were recruited based on responses to the Allergan Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire and tear stability measurements as assessed by non-invasive tear breakup time (NITBUT). Tears were collected from the inferior tear meniscus using a disposable glass capillary tube, and total RNA and total protein were isolated from conjunctival epithelial cells collected via impression cytology. Expression of membrane-bound and soluble MUC1 and MUC16 were quantified with western blotting, and expression of MUC1 and MUC16 mRNA was assessed with real-time PCR.

resultsOSDI responses ranged from 0 to 60, and NITBUT ranged from 18.5 to 2.9 s. Only two statistically significant correlations were found: soluble MUC16 protein concentration and MUC16 mRNA expression with OSDI vision related (-0.47; p=0.01) and ocular symptom (0.39; p=0.02) subscores, respectively. Post hoc exploratory analysis on absolute expression values was performed on two subsets of subjects defined as asymptomatic (OSDI≤6, n=12) and moderate to severe symptomatic (OSDI≥20, n=12). The only significant difference between the two subgroups was a significant reduction in MUC16 mRNA expression found in the symptomatic dry eye group (1.52±1.19 versus 0.57±0.44; p=0.03).

conclusionsA broad exploration of mucin expression compared to either a sign (NITBUT) or symptoms of dry eye failed to reveal compelling evidence supporting a significant relationship, other than a potential association between MUC16 with specific symptoms. Furthermore, comparison of mucin protein and expression levels between the asymptomatic and moderate to severe symptomatic subgroups revealed only one significant difference, a reduction in MUC16 mRNA expression in the symptomatic subgroup.

Indexed as

AgedBlotting, WesternCA-125 AntigenCohort StudiesConjunctivaEpithelial CellsEye DiseasesFemaleGene Expression RegulationHumansMembrane ProteinsMiddle AgedMucin-1PostmenopauseReal-Time Polymerase Chain ReactionRNA, MessengerCA-125 AntigenMembrane ProteinsMUC16 protein, humanMUC1 protein, humanMucin-1RNA, Messenger

Identifiers

PMID23687433
PMCPMC3654848
OpenAlexW2127786744

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.