Background

In vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM) has been used for over 10 years to assess the goblet cell density (GCD) within the human conjunctiva, but the reported values have been variable with no obvious indications as to why.

Methods

From publications between 2008 and 2019, representative GCD values were extracted, as well as on the image sampling strategy used.

Results

Average GCD values for any particular group of individuals ranged from 7 to 979 goblet cells / sq. mm, and with one notable outlier removed, an overall group-mean value for GCD (+/− SD) from single site locations was 207 +/− 143 goblet cells / sq. mm from 15 data sets for those usually designated as control subjects, with a value of 190 +/− 161 goblet cells / sq. mm calculated from 20 single site data sets from other (patient) groups. An overall analysis indicated that the reported average values for GCD from different groups of individuals increased according to the number of images assessed / individual (Spearman rho = 0.304), on the number of individuals evaluated to generate an averaged value for each group (rho = 0.367), and the total number of images assessed (rho = 0.346, multivariate analysis partial r = greater or = to 0.522).

Conclusions

In the use of confocal microscopy to assess the number of goblet cells in the human bulbar conjunctiva, the substantial differences reported appear to be linked to the protocols used for image selection, and some type of standardization needs to be developed.

中文翻译：

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通过共聚焦显微镜对人球结膜杯状细胞进行体内评估 - 综述。

背景

体内共聚焦显微镜 (IVCM) 已被用于评估人类结膜内的杯状细胞密度 (GCD) 已有 10 多年，但报告的值是可变的，没有明显的迹象表明原因。

方法

从 2008 年至 2019 年的出版物中，提取了具有代表性的 GCD 值以及所使用的图像采样策略。

结果

任何特定个体组的平均 GCD 值范围为 7 到 979 个杯状细胞/平方毫米，去除一个显着的异常值后，单个站点位置的 GCD (+/- SD) 的整体组平均值为 207 +/ − 143 个杯状细胞/平方毫米来自通常指定为对照受试者的 15 个数据集，从其他（患者）组的 20 个单点数据集计算得出的值为 190 +/- 161 个杯状细胞/平方毫米。总体分析表明，根据评估的图像数量/个体 (Spearman rho = 0.304)，根据评估的个体数量为每组生成平均值 (rho = 0.367），以及评估的图像总数（rho = 0.346，多变量分析部分 r = 更大或 = 0.522）。

结论

在使用共聚焦显微镜评估人类球结膜中杯状细胞的数量时，报告的实质性差异似乎与用于图像选择的协议有关，并且需要开发某种类型的标准化。