Corneal Dendritic Cell Dynamics Are Associated with Clinical Factors in Type 1 Diabetes

• Published in: Journal of clinical medicine Vol. 11; no. 9; p. 2611
• Main Authors: Colorado, Luisa H., Beecher, Lauren, Pritchard, Nicola, Al Rashah, Khaled, Dehghani, Cirous, Russell, Anthony, Malik, Rayaz A., Efron, Nathan, Edwards, Katie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 06.05.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Clinical medicine; Cornea; Diabetes; Diabetic neuropathy; Immunology; Microscopy; Migration; Pathology; corneal nerve plexus; type 1 diabetes; corneal immune cells; cell dynamics
• ISSN: 2077-0383; 2077-0383
• DOI: 10.3390/jcm11092611

Time-lapsed in vivo corneal confocal microscopy (IVCCM) has shown that corneal dendritic cells (DCs) migrate at approximately 1 µm/min in healthy humans. We have undertaken IVCCM of the whorl region to compare the density of rounded DCs, and DCs with (wDCs) and without (woDCs) dendrites and dynamics; trajectory (length travelled/time), displacement (distance from origin to endpoint/time) speeds and persistence ratio (displacement/trajectory) of woDCs in subjects with type 1 diabetes (T1D) (n = 20) and healthy controls (n = 10). Only the wDC density was higher (p = 0.02) in subjects with T1D compared to controls. There was no significant difference in cell dynamics between subjects with T1D and controls. woDC density correlated directly with HDL cholesterol (r = 0.59, p = 0.007) and inversely with triglycerides (r = −0.61, p = 0.005), whilst round-shaped cell density correlated inversely with HDL cholesterol (r = −0.54, p = 0.007). Displacement, trajectory, and persistency correlated significantly with eGFR (mL/min) (r = 0.74, p < 0.001; r = 0.48, p = 0.031; r = 0.58, p = 0.008, respectively). We show an increase in wDC density but no change in any other DC sub-type or alteration in cell dynamics in T1D. However, there were associations between DC density and lipid parameters and between DC dynamics and renal function. IVCCM provides evidence of a link between immune cell dynamics with lipid levels and renal function.