Insights into Tear Film Stability from Babies and Young Adults: A Study of Human Meibum Lipid Conformation and Rheology

Babies have the most stable tears and people with dry eye have the least stable tears. Meibum may contribute to tear film stability, so in this study, the hydrocarbon chain conformation and rheology of meibum from babies was studied for the first time. Infrared spectroscopy was used to measure lipid phase transitions. Rheology was measured using Langmuir film technology. Meibum from 25 donors 1 to 13 years old was compared with meibum from 18 donors 13 to 25 years old. The phase transition temperature and lipid order (stiffness) increased with increasing age from 1 to 25 years. The increase in meibum lipid order from 1 to 25 years of age may contribute to the instability of the tear film with age and contribute to films with a higher reciprocal compressibility modulus that are not as compressible and not as viscoelastic. Changes in the lipid phase transition parameters of meibum lipid with dry eye are an exacerbation of the changes observed with age. The lower reciprocal compressibility moduli of meibum films from children and babies compared with meibum from adults reiterates higher stability in their films which spread better, resist deformation, and facilitates their ability to be quickly restored after blinking.