Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36443498›Full record

Observational studyEye (London, England)2023

In vivo corneal confocal microscopy as a non-invasive test to assess obesity induced small fibre nerve damage and inflammation.

Samet Gulkas, Fahri Onur Aydin, Semra Akkaya Turhan, Ayse Ebru Toker

Open access · greenAbstract readObservational Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in Eye (London, England), 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
12citing papers in PubMed
2.0field-weighted citation impact, top 14% 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

12 citing papers in PubMed, 13 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Obesity and Eye Diseases.Nutrients · 2026
    Review
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Enhanced Imaging of Ocular Surface Lesions.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025
    Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Corneal nerve changes by anti-glaucoma medications examined byInternational journal of ophthalmology · 2024
    Article
  12. 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

4 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Samet GulkasDepartment of Ophthalmology, Abdulkadir Yuksel State Hospital, Gaziantep, Turkey. drsametgulkas@gmail.com.ORCID 0000-0002-1698-7060
Fahri Onur AydinDepartment of Ophthalmology, University of Health Sciences, Basaksehir Cam and Sakura City Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.ORCID 0000-0001-9414-6788
Semra Akkaya TurhanDepartment of Ophthalmology, Marmara University School of Medicine, Pendik Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.ORCID 0000-0001-8322-1842
Ayse Ebru TokerDepartment of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, West Virginia University Eye Institute, Morgantown, WV, USA.
Gaziantep Children's Hospital · TRMarmara University · TRSağlık Bilimleri Üniversitesi · TRWest Virginia University · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeTo investigate small nerve fibre damage and inflammation at the level of the sub-basal nerve plexus (SNP) of severe obese patients and compare the results with those of healthy subjects.

methodsThis cross-sectional, observational study investigated the data of 28 patients (14 out of 28 prediabetic or diabetic) with severe obesity (Body Mass Index; BMI ≥ 40) and 20 healthy subjects. Corneal nerve fibre density (CNFD), branch density (CNBD), fibre length (CNFL), nerve fibre area (CNFA), nerve fibre width (CNFW), and nerve fractal dimension (CNFrD) and dendritic cell (DC) density were evaluated using in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM, Heidelberg Retinal Tomograph III Rostock Cornea Module). Automatic CCMetrics software (University of Manchester, UK) was used for quantitative analysis of SNP.

resultsMean age was 48.4±7.4 and 45.1 ± 5.8 in the control and obese group, respectively (p = 0.09). Mean BMI were 49.1 ± 7.8 vs. 23.3 ± 1.4 in obese vs. control group, respectively (p < 0.001). Mean CNFD, CNBD, CNFL, CNFA, CNFW were significantly reduced in obese group compared with those in the control group (always p < 0.05, respectively). There were no significant differences in any ACCMetrics parameters between prediabetic/diabetic and non-diabetic obese patients. Increased DC densities were detected in obese group compared with those in control group (p < 0.0001). There were significant correlations between BMI scores and SNP parameters.

conclusionImaging with IVCM is a feasible, non-invasive method to detect and quantify occult corneal nerve damage and increased inflammation in patients with obesity. This study suggests that obesity may be a separate risk factor for peripheral neuropathy regardless of DM.

Indexed as

Peripheral Nervous System DiseasesPrediabetic StateAdultCorneaCross-Sectional StudiesHumansInflammationMicroscopy, ConfocalMiddle AgedNerve FibersObesity

Identifiers

PMID36443498
PMCPMC10366092
OpenAlexW4310177716

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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.