Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
ARQUIVOS BRASILEIROS DE OFTALMOLOGIA, cilt.89, sa.2, ss.11-13, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
ABSTRACT | Purpose: To evaluate whether specific meibomian gland morphological features can serve as diagnostic indicators of dry eye disease in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods: This cross-sectional study included patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and age-matched healthy controls. All participants underwent a comprehensive ocular surface evaluation, including the ocular surface disease index, tear break-up time, Schirmer’s I test, corneal staining, eyelid margin scoring, meibum expressibility assessment, meibography scoring, and evaluation of meibomian gland loss area. Meibomian gland morphology was assessed bilaterally. Dry eye severity was determined based on ocular surface disease index scores, tear break-up time, Schirmer’s test results, and corneal staining scores. Correlations between meibomian gland features and ocular surface parameters, age, diabetes duration, and hemoglobin A1c levels were analyzed. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was performed to determine the diagnostic value of specific meibomian gland features for dry eye disease. Results: Dry eye disease was diagnosed in 56.6% of patients with diabetes and 22.6% of controls. Compared with controls, patients with diabetes had significantly higher ocular surface disease index scores, greater corneal staining, worse meibum expressibility, increased meibomian gland loss, and lower tear break-up time and Schirmer values (all p<0.05). Meibomian gland dropout, shortening, tortuosity, distortion, overlapping, ghost glands, and lack of extension to the lid margin were significantly more prevalent in patients with diabetes (p<0.05) and showed significant correlations with age, HbA1c levels, and diabetes mellitus duration. Receiver operating characteristic analysis identified meibomian gland dropout, ghost glands, shortening, and lack of extension to the lid margin as the most predictive morphological features for dry eye disease in patients with diabetes. Conclusion: Type 2 diabetes mellitus is associated with distinct meibomian gland morphological alterations that correlate with both dry eye disease severity and systemic diabetic parameters, suggesting potential diagnostic value. Keywords: Diabetes mellitus; dry eye syndromes/diagnosis; Meibomian glands/diagnostic imaging; Meibomian gland dysfunction; type 2/complications