Presence of snake-like chromatin in epithelial cells of keratoconjunctivitissicca followed by a large number of micronuclei
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the number of micronuclei in snake-like chromatin(SLC) cells in the conjunctival epithelium of keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS) patients. Toelucidate possible correlations between SLC cell numbers and KCS intensity. STUDY DESIGN: Impressioncytology specimens from the bulbar conjunctiva of healthy controls and KCS patients were harvestedand divided into 3 groups: group 1, controls; group 2, KCS SLC-negative; and group 3, KCSSLC-positive. The number of micronuclei (MNi) in SLC-negative and SLC-positive epithelial cells ofeach group was counted. RESULTS: The number of MNi in SLC-negative cells of groups 1 and 2 did notexceed 1 MNi/1,000 cells. A significant increase in the frequency of micronuclei in the upper bulbarconjunctiva was noted in SLC-positive (14.75 +/- 8.09 MNi/1,000 cells) as well as SLC-negativecells (4.0 +/- 3.83 MNi/1,000 cells) of group 3. CONCLUSION: We demonstrate here that the presenceof MNi in the conjunctival epithelium of KCS patients could be a characteristic feature accompanyingSLC cells. The fact that increased numbers of SLC cells correlates with impaired values in clinicaltest as well as decreased goblet and epithelial cell densities confirms that the presence of SLCcells correlates with KCS intensity.
Jirsova,K Juklova,K Alfakih,A Filipec,M
Laboratory and Ocular Tissue Bank, Department of Ophthalmology, GeneralTeaching Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic. katerina.jirsova@vfn.cz
Keratoconjunctivitis Sicca Epithelial Cells Snakes Chromatin
