Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34052415›Full record

ArticleThe ocular surface2021

Human meibum and tear film derived (O-acyl)-omega-hydroxy fatty acids in meibomian gland dysfunction.

Safal Khanal, William Ngo, Kelly K Nichols, Landon Wilson, Stephen Barnes, Jason J Nichols

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The ocular surface, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
15citing papers in PubMed
3.9field-weighted citation impact, top 6% 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

15 citing papers in PubMed, 29 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. A Novel Rat Model for Human Meibomian Gland Dysfunction and Ocular Rosacea.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2026
    Article
  2. Translating Biomarker Discovery: From Bench to Bedside in Dry Eye Disease.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025
    Review
  3. Changes in Human Meibum Lipid Composition Related to the Presence and Severity of Meibomian Gland Dysfunction.Journal of ocular pharmacology and therapeutics : the official journal of the Association for Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics · 2024
    Article
  4. Decipher 'Em All: A Profiling Study on the Effects of Acyl Groups inLangmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids · 2024
    Article
  5. Meibomian Gland Shortening Is Associated With Altered Meibum Composition.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2024
    Article
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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 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Safal KhanalDepartment of Optometry and Vision Science, School of Optometry, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
William NgoCentre for Ocular Research & Education, School of Optometry & Vision Science, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Kelly K NicholsDepartment of Optometry and Vision Science, School of Optometry, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
Landon WilsonDepartment of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA; Targeted Metabolomics and Proteomics Laboratory, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
Stephen BarnesDepartment of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA; Targeted Metabolomics and Proteomics Laboratory, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
Jason J NicholsDepartment of Optometry and Vision Science, School of Optometry, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA. Electronic address: jjn@uab.edu.
University of Alabama at Birmingham · USTarget (United States) · USUniversity of Waterloo · CA

Funding

National Dissemination of I-Corps@NCATS: Accelerating Translation through CommercializationUL1TR003096 · NCATS · UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM · PI GUTIERREZ, ORLANDO M, KIMBERLY, ROBERT P. · 2019 to 2023
$43.6M
The role of (O-acyl)-omega-hydroxy fatty acids in human lipid layer structure and function in health and meibomian gland dysfunction.R01EY026947 · NEI · UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM · PI NICHOLS, JASON JAY · 2016 to 2020
$1.8M
5500 Q-Trap Mass SpectrometerS10RR027822 · NCRR · UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM · PI BARNES, STEPHEN · 2010 to 2010
$469k
NCATS NIH HHS UL1 TR003096NCRR NIH HHS S10 RR027822NEI NIH HHS R01 EY026947
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeThe molecular basis of the tear film and lipid layer alterations in meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) is unknown. This study aimed to identify and compare (O-acyl)-omega-hydroxy fatty acids (OAHFAs) derived from human meibum and tears in MGD.

methodsOf 195 eligible subjects (18-84 years, 62.6% female), 183 and 174 provided samples for tears and meibum, respectively. Subjects were classified into four groups: Normal, Asymptomatic MGD, MGD, and Mixed. Samples from the right eye of each subject were infused into the SCIEX 5600 TripleTOF mass spectrometer in negative ion mode. Lipid intensities identified with Analyst1.7 TF and SCIEX LipidView1.3 were normalized by an internal standard and total ion current, then statistically compared in MetaboAnalyst 4.0.

resultsIn meibum and tears, 76 and 78 unique OAHFAs were identified, respectively. The five most frequent and abundant OAHFAs were 18:2/16:2, 18:1/32:1, 18:1/30:1, 18:2/32:1, and 18:1/34:1. Two OAHFAs, 18:2/20:2 and 18:2/20:1, were identified only in tears. Initial univariate analysis revealed three differently regulated OAHFAs in meibum and eight in tears. Partial Least Square Discriminant Analysis showed 18:1/32:1, 18:2/16:2, 18:1/34:1 and 18:0/32:1 in tears, and 18:2/16:2, 18:1/32:1 and 18:2/32:2 in meibum, had variable importance in projection scores >1.5 and contributed the most to the separation of groups. In both meibum and tears, all OAHFAS except 18:2/16:2 were reduced in MGD compared to the normal group.

conclusionMGD is accompanied by differential expression of specific OAHFAs in meibum and tears. These results suggest OAHFAs play a role in the altered biochemical profile of the tear film lipid layer in humans with MGD.

Indexed as

Meibomian Gland DysfunctionTearsFatty AcidsFemaleHumansLipidsMaleMeibomian GlandsFatty AcidsLipidsdry eye diseaseLipidsMeibomian glandsMeibum(o-acyl)-omega-hydroxy fatty acidsTear film

Identifiers

PMID34052415
PMCPMC8328926
OpenAlexW3165571124

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
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.