Abstract
Purpose To examine the diurnal variations in corneal autofluorescence in normal and diabetic patients.
Methods We measured corneal autofluorescence using a fluorophotometer fitted with an anterior segment adapter. Corneal autofluorescence was measured 10 times at 3 min intervals to evaluate the reproducibility of this instrument in 4 eyes of 4 normal subjects. The diurnal variation in corneal autofluorescence was determined by measuring the fluctuations in 10 eyes in 10 normal subjects and one unoperated eye each of 10 patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). We performed five consecutive measurements at 1000, 1130, 1400, 1630 and 1900 hours. The mean value of five measurements, the variation range and the coefficient of variation were analysed.
Results The mean coefficient of variation in the measurement using this instrument was 8.6 ± 1.0%. In the patients with PDR, the mean corneal autofluorescence value was significantly higher (p < 0.001), the variation range was significantly wider (p < 0.001) and the coefficient of variation was significantly greater (p < 0.01) than in the normal subjects.
Conclusions The results of this study suggest that corneal autofluorescence changes over the course of a day in patients with diabetes. This may be caused by the breakdown of the blood-aqueous barrier that we reported previously.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
References
Stolwijk TR, van Best JA, Boot JP, Oosterhuis JA . Corneal autofluorescence in diabetic and penetrating keratoplasty patients as measured by fluorophotometry. Exp Eye Res 1990;51:403–9.
Stolwijk TR, van Best JA, Oosterhuis JA, Swart W . Corneal autofluorescence: an indicator of diabetic retinopathy. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 1992;33:92–7.
Ishiko S, Yoshida A, Konno S, Abiko T, Kato Y . Corneal autofluorescence in young diabetic patients without retinopathy. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 1994;35(Suppl):1962.
Chang SW, Hsu HC, Hu FR, Chen MS . Corneal autofluorescence and epithelial barrier function in diabetic patients. Ophthalmic Res 1995;27:74–9.
Weston BC, Bourne WM, Poise KA, Hodge DO . Corneal hydration control in diabetes mellitus. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 1995;36:586–95.
Larsson LI, Bourne WM, Pach JM, Brubaker RF . Structure and function of the corneal endothelium in diabetes mellitus type I and type II. Arch Ophthalmol 1996;114:9–14.
Laing RA, Fischbarg J, Chance B . Noninvasive measurements of pyridine nucleotide fluorescence from the cornea. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 1980;19:96–102.
Laing RA, Chiba K, Tsubota K, Oak SS . Metabolic and morphologic changes in the corneal endothelium: the effects of potassium cyanide, iodoacetamide, and ouabain. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 1992;33:3315–24.
Oshika T, Araie M, Masuda K . Diurnal variation of aqueous flare in normal human eyes measured with laser flare-cell meter. Jpn J Ophthalmol 1988;32:143–50.
Yoshida A, Ishiko S, Kojima M, Ogasawara H . Permeability of the blood-ocular barrier in adolescent and adult diabetic patients. Br J Ophthalmol 1993;77:158–61.
Moriarty AP, Spalton DJ, Moriarty BJ, Shilling JS, Ffytche TJ, Bulsara M . Studies of the blood-aqueous barrier in diabetes mellitus. Am J Ophthalmol 1994;117:768–71.
Occhipinti JR, Mosier MA, Burstein NL . Autofluorescence and light transmission in the aging crystalline lens. Ophthalmologica 1986;192:203–9.
Lohmann AM, van Best JA, de Keizer RJW . Corneal metabolism and epithelial barrier function after cataract surgery and intraocular lens implantation: a fluorophotometric study. Int Ophthalmol 1996;19:225–33.
Harper CL, Boulton ME, Bennett D, Marcyniuk B, Jarvis-Evans JH, Tullo AB, Ridgway AE . Diurnal variations in human corneal thickness. Br J Ophthalmol 1996;80:1068–72.
Busted N, Olsen T, Schmits O . Clinical observations on the corneal thickness and the corneal endothelium in diabetes mellitus. Br J Ophthalmol 1981;65:687–90.
Loy A, Lurie KG, Ghosh A, Wilson JM, MacGregor LC, Matschinsky FM . Diabetes and the myo-inositol paradox. Diabetes 1990;39:1305–12.
Mori F, Ishiko S, Abiko T, Kitaya N, Kato Y, Kanno H, Yoshida A . Changes in corneal and lens autofluorescence and blood glucose levels in diabetics: parameter of blood glucose control. Curr Eye Res 1997;16:534–8.
Kuppens E, Stolwijk T, van Best J, de Keizer R . Topical timolol, corneal epithelial permeability and autofluorescence in glaucoma by fluorophotometry. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 1994;232:215–20.
Miyake Y, Maekubo K, Miyake T, Miyake K . Comeal autofluorescence in eyes with branch retinal vein occlusion. J Jpn Ophthalmol Soc 1994;98:385–8.
Kagokawa H, Ishiko S, Kitaya N, Abiko T, Mori F, Kato Y, et al. Corneal and lens autofluorescence in myopia. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 1996;37(Suppl):476.
Masters BR, Riley MV, Fischbarg J, Chance B . Pyridine nucleotides of rabbit cornea with histotoxic anoxia: chemical analysis, non-invasive fluorometry and physiological correlates. Exp Eye Res 1983;37:1–7.
Masters BR, Ghosh AK, Wilson J, Matschinsky FM . Pyridine nucleotides and phosphorylation potential of rabbit corneal epithelium and endothelium. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 1989;30:861–8.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This study was presented in part at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, April 1996
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kitaya, N., Ishiko, S., Mori, F. et al. Diurnal variation of corneal autofluorescence in normal and diabetic eyes. Eye 12, 934–937 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/eye.1998.242
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/eye.1998.242