Abnormal Light Scattering in the Corneas in Diabetic Patients : A new approach to the diagnosis of diabetic complications with confocal biomicroscopy

Diabetic complications threaten the quality of life of individuals with diabetes and therefore represent an important clinical problem. An abnormality of basement membranes is thought to contribute to the pathogenesis of diabetic complications. Diabetic complications that affect the eye include diabetic retinopathy, diabetic cataract, and diabetic keratopathy, the latter of which is thought to arise as a result of hyperglycemia-induced changes in corneal cell function and the corneal epithelial basement membrane. The human cornea can be examined with a confocal microscope, the Z-Scan mode of the ConfoScan^[○!R]model of which allows the measurement of tissue reflectivity for all layers of the cornea. We defined the light scattering index (LSI) as the ratio of tissue reflectivity of the corneal epithelial basement membrane to that of corneal superficial cells, and we measured this parameter in individuals with type II diabetes and control subjects with the use of the Z-Scan mode of the ConfoScan^[○!R]. The LSI was increased in the diabetic subjects compared with that in controls. Furthermore, the LSJ was shown to be correlated with the severity of diabetic retinopathy in the subjects with diabetes. Our results suggest that confocal microscopy may provide a means of detecting systemic basement membrane abnormalities.

角膜

糖尿病

共焦点顕微鏡

基底膜

糖尿病網膜症

本文データは山口大学医学会の許諾に基づきCiNiiから複製したものである