Publikationsdatenbank

Diabetes mellitus leads to accumulation of dendritic cells and nerve fiber damage of the subbasal nerve plexus in the cornea (2014)

Art

Zeitschriftenartikel / wissenschaftlicher Beitrag

Autoren

Leppin, Katja

Behrendt, Ann-Kathrin

Reichard, Maria

Stachs, Oliver

Guthoff, Rudolf F

Baltrusch, Simone

Eule, Johanna C (WE 20)

Vollmar, Brigitte

Quelle

Investigative ophthalmology & visual science; 55(6) — S. 3603–3615

ISSN: 0146-0404

Sprache

Englisch

Verweise

DOI: 10.1167/iovs.14-14307

Pubmed: 24781935

Kontakt

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Haus 1
14163 Berlin
+49 30 838 62356
kleintierklinik@vetmed.fu-berlin.de

Abstract / Zusammenfassung

To evaluate whether nerve fibers of the subbasal nerve plexus (SNP) and dendritic cells (DCs) are in association with each other leading to neuropathy in the diabetic cornea.

BALB/c mice were injected with streptozotocin (STZ) for 5 days for induction of diabetes mellitus (DM) or with vehicle solution (control). B6.VLep(ob/ob) (ob/ob) mice served as an obese and glucose-intolerant DM type 2 (DM II) model and lean B6.VLep(ob/+) (ob/+) mice as respective controls. Using in vivo corneal confocal microscopy (CCM), nerve fibers and DCs were quantified over a period of 9 weeks and additionally analyzed by in vitro immunofluorescence whole-mount staining.

In STZ-diabetic mice, CCM revealed an increase of DC density (DCD) in contrast to controls, whereas nerve fiber density (NFD) was decreased with duration of DM. In ob/ob mice, DCD was 3-fold higher than in both ob/+ mice and STZ-diabetic mice. Whole-mount staining displayed CD11c(+) and major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II(+) mature DCs in colocalization with class III β-tubulin(+) nerve fibers in the cornea.

Hyperglycemia leads to corneal DC infiltration, and obesity aggravates this immune response. The direct contact between DCs and the SNP can be assumed to be a trigger of nerve fiber damage and thus a contributing factor to polyneuropathy in diabetic corneas.