{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,25]],"date-time":"2026-03-25T09:24:15Z","timestamp":1774430655948,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,25]],"date-time":"2026-03-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1774396800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Aging Neurosci."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Purpose<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>To systematically analyze corneal epithelial thickness (CET) distribution in Parkinson\u2019s disease (PD) using anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) and investigate its correlation with disease stage and dry eye severity.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This cross-sectional study enrolled 60 PD patients (120 eyes) and 29 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (58 eyes). The accessed parameters included dry eye disease (DED) metrics, such as the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI), Schirmer I test (sIt), tear breakup time (BUT), corneal fluorescein staining (CFS), corneal sensitivity, and zonal CET measured by AS-OCT in central 2-mm, 5-mm, and 6-mm zones. Baseline PD characteristics included disease duration, levodopa equivalent daily dose (LEDD), Hoehn and Yahr (H-Y) stage, Movement Disorder Society Unified Parkinsond dPisease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS Part III), and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      PD patients showed significantly higher OSDI and CFS (\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      &amp;lt; 0.001), and lower sIt, BUT, and CET (\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      &amp;lt; 0.001). CET was significantly thinner in temporal, superior, and nasal quadrants of the 6-mm zone (\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      &amp;lt; 0.05). Temporal 6-mm CET was positively correlated with BUT (\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      = 0.024). With advancing H-Y stage, peripheral CET progressively thinned, while OSDI increased and BUT and sIt decreased, indicating worsening DED.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study demonstrates, for the first time, that CET correlates with both dry eye severity and H-Y stage in PD. AS-OCT-based CET mapping may serve as a non-invasive biomarker for early neurodegeneration detection and guide ocular surface management.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fnagi.2026.1737800","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,25]],"date-time":"2026-03-25T06:52:45Z","timestamp":1774421565000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Corneal epithelial thickness can reflect the stage of Parkinson\u2019s disease and the severity of dry eye"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"18","author":[{"given":"Dongyu","family":"Li","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Eye Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin","place":["Heilongjiang, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jiazheng","family":"Ji","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Eye Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin","place":["Heilongjiang, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xinyu","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurology, First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin","place":["Heilongjiang, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Fan","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurology, First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin","place":["Heilongjiang, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xin","family":"Jin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Eye Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin","place":["Heilongjiang, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jingrao","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Eye Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin","place":["Heilongjiang, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Shumin","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Eye Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin","place":["Heilongjiang, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lifen","family":"Yao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurology, First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin","place":["Heilongjiang, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Hong","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Eye Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin","place":["Heilongjiang, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"915","DOI":"10.1038\/s41433-019-0592-y","article-title":"Corneal epithelial thickness profile in dry-eye disease.","volume":"34","author":"Abou Shousha","year":"2020","journal-title":"Eye"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"715","DOI":"10.3233\/JPD-150686","article-title":"Oculo-visual dysfunction in Parkinson\u2019s Disease.","volume":"5","author":"Armstrong","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. 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