Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31169606›Full record

ArticleCornea2019

Are BALB/c Mice Relevant Models for Understanding Sex-Related Differences in Gene Expression in the Human Meibomian Gland?

Xiaomin Chen, Benjamin D Sullivan, Raheleh Rahimi Darabad, Shaohui Liu, Wendy R Kam, David A Sullivan

Open access · greenAbstract readComparative Study
In one paragraph

Article in Cornea, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
1.1field-weighted citation impact, top 21% 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

5 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
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  5. Article
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 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Xiaomin ChenSchepens Eye Research Institute, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, and Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
Benjamin D SullivanTearLab, San Diego, CA.
Raheleh Rahimi DarabadSchepens Eye Research Institute, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, and Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
Shaohui LiuSchepens Eye Research Institute, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, and Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
Wendy R KamSchepens Eye Research Institute, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, and Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
David A SullivanSchepens Eye Research Institute, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, and Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
Harvard University · USSmith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute · US

Funding

Sex, sex steroids and dry eye syndromesR01EY005612 · NEI · SCHEPENS EYE RESEARCH INSTITUTE · PI SULLIVAN, DAVID A. · 1985 to 2014
$9.0M
Cationic Amphiphilc Drugs for the Treatment of Meibomian Gland DysfunctionR21EY028653 · NEI · SCHEPENS EYE RESEARCH INSTITUTE · PI SULLIVAN, DAVID A. · 2018 to 2019
$542k
NEI NIH HHS R01 EY005612NEI NIH HHS R21 EY028653
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundA compelling feature of dry eye disease is that it occurs predominantly in women. We hypothesize that this female prevalence is linked to sex-related differences in the meibomian gland (MG). This gland plays a critical role in maintaining the tear film, and its dysfunction is a major cause of dry eye disease. To understand the factors that underlie MG sexual dimorphism and promote dry eye in women, we seek to identify an optimal model for the human MG. Our goal was to determine whether a murine MG is such a model. Toward that end, we examined whether sex differences in MG gene expression are the same in BALB/c mice and humans.

methodsEyelid tissues were collected from humans (n = 5-7/sex) and BALB/c mice (n = 9/sex). MGs were isolated and processed for the evaluation of gene expression by using microarrays and bioinformatics software.

resultsOur analysis of the 500 most highly expressed genes from human and mouse MGs showed that only 24.4% were the same. Our comparison of 100 genes with the greatest sex-associated differences in human and mouse MGs demonstrated that none were the same. Sex also exerted a significant impact on numerous ontologies, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways, and chromosomes, but these effects were primarily species-specific.

conclusionsOur results indicate that BALB/c mice are not optimal models for understanding sex-related differences in gene expression of the human MG.

Indexed as

Sex CharacteristicsAdultAgedAged, 80 and overAnimalsDisease Models, AnimalEye ProteinsFemaleGene Expression ProfilingGene Expression RegulationHumansMaleMeibomian GlandsMice, Inbred BALB CMiddle AgedOligonucleotide Array Sequence AnalysisEye ProteinsRNA, Messenger

Identifiers

PMID31169606
PMCPMC6832805
OpenAlexW2953248513

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.