ArticleInvestigative ophthalmology & visual science2025
Single-Cell Transcriptomics Reveals Effects of Long-Term Contact Lens Wearing on the Human Corneal Epithelium.
Article in Investigative ophthalmology & visual science, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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.
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.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Brain care score and retinal health: structural and metabolic insights from the UK Biobank.GeroScience · 2026Article
- Bridging Hypoxia and Vision Loss: The Emerging Role of Connexins in Local and Systemic Eye Diseases.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Purpose: Corneal contact lenses (CLs) are increasingly used as a treatment for myopia correction. This study aimed to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying corneal epithelial pathological changes induced by long-term CL wear, thereby providing potential targets for the prevention and management of CL-related corneal complications. Methods: We initially conducted single-cell RNA sequencing on intact corneal epithelium samples obtained from myopic patients with prolonged CL wear and nonwearing controls. Differential expression analysis and functional enrichment systematically characterized cell type-specific transcriptional changes between the two groups. Additionally, gene set expression scoring analysis, combined with experimental validation, revealed distinct pathological signatures associated with long-term CL use. Results: Our analysis revealed a significant increase in epithelial keratinization and enhanced chronic inflammatory response in the CL group. All epithelial cell types exhibited elevated senescence scores following prolonged CL wear. Furthermore, we detected a significant upregulation of hypoxia-related genes in the corneal epithelium of CL wearers, accompanied by metabolic impairment and dysfunction. Moreover, most typical angiogenesis- and neurodegeneration-related genes showed significantly higher expression levels in the corneal epithelium after extended CL use. Conclusions: Long-term wear of CLs may induce various manifestations in corneal epithelial cells, including keratinization, inflammatory response, aerobic metabolic impairment, cellular senescence, neovascularization, and corneal sensory abnormalities. These changes could compromise ocular surface barrier function and increase the risk of infectious keratitis.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.