Dyslipidemia, body mass index, and blood glucose levels in patients with meibomian gland dysfunction

Abstract

Background Systemic dyslipidemia, obesity, and elevated blood sugars may theoretically affect the meibomian lipid composition and therefore, can cause meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD). Objective This study aimed to evaluate the association of serum lipid levels, body mass index (BMI), and serum blood glucose (BG) levels in patients with MGD compared with healthy controls. Patients and methods This is a comparative observational case-control study that enrolled 40 MGD patients (cases) and 40 controls. One eye of each participant was included in the study. After a detailed history, ocular examination was done by slit lamp biomicroscopy to grade/stage the MGD. The BMI, serum fasting total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), triglycerides, and BG levels were measured. Results The mean age of the cases was 46.75±10.93 years compared with 45.55±10.62 years in controls (P=0.620). Patients with MGD showed significantly higher serum fasting cholesterol (188.62±62.24 mg/dl),;Deg;BM;Deg;I (24.45±1.75 kg/m2), and fasting BG (110.35±32.30 mg/dl) compared with the controls (159.60±20.19 mg/dl, 23.45±1.35 kg/m2, and 98.43±27.69 mg/dl, respectively, P=0.022, 0.005, and 0.030, respectively). With increasing severity of MGD, the fasting serum cholesterol increased significantly from 136.73±24.88 mg/dl in grade 1 to 285.20±85.99 mg/dl in grade 4 (P<0.001) and the fasting serum LDL levels increased from 72.64±20.33 mg/dl in grade 1 to 202.60±95.66 mg/dl in grade 4 (P<0.001). In addition, the fasting serum triglycerides increased significantly as the severity of MGD increased from grade I (96.00±22.56 mg/dl) to grade III (227.09±83.44 mg/dl), (P<0.001). However, The fasting HDL and BG values did not increase significantly with increasing severity of the MGD (P=0.135 and 0.181, respectively). Conclusion There is importance for screening for dyslipidemia, BMI, and BG levels in MGD cases.