Cargando…

Corneal Innervation and Sensation: The Eye and Beyond

The cornea is one of the most densely innervated and sensitive tissues in the body. In addition to their important sensory functions, corneal nerves induce reflex tear production, blinking, and the release of trophic factors – all of which combined help to maintain the structural and functional inte...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Yang, Alina Y., Chow, Jessica, Liu, Ji
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: YJBM 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5872636/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29599653
_version_ 1783309879292723200
author Yang, Alina Y.
Chow, Jessica
Liu, Ji
author_facet Yang, Alina Y.
Chow, Jessica
Liu, Ji
author_sort Yang, Alina Y.
collection PubMed
description The cornea is one of the most densely innervated and sensitive tissues in the body. In addition to their important sensory functions, corneal nerves induce reflex tear production, blinking, and the release of trophic factors – all of which combined help to maintain the structural and functional integrity of the surface of the eye. Consequently, damage to corneal nerves as a result of disease, surgery, or trauma can lead to diminished corneal sensitivity, epithelial defects, and possible blindness. In this review, we describe commonly used tools that have provided considerable new information on corneal architecture and sensation in healthy and diseased corneas, with special emphasis on changes seen in herpes zoster ophthalmicus, corneal and other therapeutic ocular procedures, antiglaucoma medical therapy, aging, and diabetes. With its potential applications ranging from managing ocular-specific to systemic diseases, the study of corneal innervation has implications for future therapies extending beyond just the eye itself.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-5872636
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2018
publisher YJBM
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-58726362018-03-29 Corneal Innervation and Sensation: The Eye and Beyond Yang, Alina Y. Chow, Jessica Liu, Ji Yale J Biol Med Review The cornea is one of the most densely innervated and sensitive tissues in the body. In addition to their important sensory functions, corneal nerves induce reflex tear production, blinking, and the release of trophic factors – all of which combined help to maintain the structural and functional integrity of the surface of the eye. Consequently, damage to corneal nerves as a result of disease, surgery, or trauma can lead to diminished corneal sensitivity, epithelial defects, and possible blindness. In this review, we describe commonly used tools that have provided considerable new information on corneal architecture and sensation in healthy and diseased corneas, with special emphasis on changes seen in herpes zoster ophthalmicus, corneal and other therapeutic ocular procedures, antiglaucoma medical therapy, aging, and diabetes. With its potential applications ranging from managing ocular-specific to systemic diseases, the study of corneal innervation has implications for future therapies extending beyond just the eye itself. YJBM 2018-03-28 /pmc/articles/PMC5872636/ /pubmed/29599653 Text en Copyright ©2018, Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC BY-NC license, which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
spellingShingle Review
Yang, Alina Y.
Chow, Jessica
Liu, Ji
Corneal Innervation and Sensation: The Eye and Beyond
title Corneal Innervation and Sensation: The Eye and Beyond
title_full Corneal Innervation and Sensation: The Eye and Beyond
title_fullStr Corneal Innervation and Sensation: The Eye and Beyond
title_full_unstemmed Corneal Innervation and Sensation: The Eye and Beyond
title_short Corneal Innervation and Sensation: The Eye and Beyond
title_sort corneal innervation and sensation: the eye and beyond
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5872636/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29599653
work_keys_str_mv AT yangalinay cornealinnervationandsensationtheeyeandbeyond
AT chowjessica cornealinnervationandsensationtheeyeandbeyond
AT liuji cornealinnervationandsensationtheeyeandbeyond