{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,6]],"date-time":"2026-05-06T18:26:04Z","timestamp":1778091964756,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"20","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,12]],"date-time":"2023-10-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1697068800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Fight for Sight Denmark"},{"name":"A.P. M\u00f8ller og Hustru Chastine Mc-Kinney M\u00f8llers Fond til almene Formaal"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) is a highly prevalent condition and the most common cause of evaporative dry eye disease. Studying the proteome of MGD can result in important advances in the management of the condition. Here, we collected tear film samples from treatment na\u00efve patients with MGD (n = 10) and age-matched controls (n = 11) with Schirmer filtration paper. The samples were analyzed with label-free quantification nano liquid chromatography\u2014tandem mass spectrometry. The proteins were considered differentially expressed if p &lt; 0.05. A total of 88 proteins were significantly regulated. The largest change was observed in cystatin-SN, which was downregulated in MGD and correlated negatively with tear meniscus height. The downregulation of cystatin-SN was confirmed with targeted mass spectrometry by single reaction monitoring (SRM). Eighteen immunoglobulin components involved in B cell activation, phagocytosis, and complement activation were downregulated in MGD including Ig alpha-1 chain C region, immunoglobulin J chain, immunoglobulin heavy variable 3\u201315, and Ig mu chain C region. The changes in cystatin-SN and immunoglobulin chains are likely to result from the inflammatory changes related to tear film evaporation, and future studies may assess their association with the meibum quality.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms242015115","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,12]],"date-time":"2023-10-12T07:28:44Z","timestamp":1697095724000},"page":"15115","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Meibomian Gland Dysfunction Is Associated with Low Levels of Immunoglobulin Chains and Cystatin-SN"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"24","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4304-9704","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Danson Vasanthan","family":"Muttuvelu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2150-7754","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lasse J\u00f8rgensen","family":"Cehofski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Odense University Hospital, 5000 Odense, Denmark"},{"name":"Department of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark, 5000 Odense, Denmark"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jeppe","family":"Holtz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Odense University Hospital, 5000 Odense, Denmark"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Tor Paaske","family":"Utheim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Biochemistry, Oslo University Hospital, 5000 Oslo, Norway"},{"name":"Norwegian Dry Eye Clinic, 0366 Oslo, Norway"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xiangjun","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Biochemistry, Oslo University Hospital, 5000 Oslo, Norway"},{"name":"Norwegian Dry Eye Clinic, 0366 Oslo, Norway"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Henrik","family":"Vorum","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Aalborg University Hospital, 9000 Aalborg, Denmark"},{"name":"Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, 9000 Aalborg, Denmark"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5906-7670","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Steffen","family":"Heegaard","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9392-8697","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marie Louise Roed","family":"Rasmussen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Asif Manzoor","family":"Khan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ahmed Basim","family":"Abduljabar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3459-7429","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bent","family":"Honor\u00e9","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, 9000 Aalborg, Denmark"},{"name":"Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"107","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jtos.2021.05.006","article-title":"The physical and mental burden of dry eye disease: A large population-based study investigating the relationship with health-related quality of life and its determinants","volume":"21","author":"Morthen","year":"2021","journal-title":"Ocul. 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