Preliminary investigation on collagen inconjunctivochalasis

Objective To investigate the amount changes and significance of type I and III collagen in the conjunctiva tissue of the patients with conjunctivochalasis. Methods The morphologicalmanifestation of collagen in conjunctival tissues were observed by hematoxylin-eosin staining. The expression of type I and III collagen by immunohistochemical technique in normal human conjunctiva and patients with conjunctivochalasis, combined with the optical density valueof positive stainingresults was measured by Image-Pro-Plus image analysis system, the amount changes of semi quantitative comparison between the two groups of type I and III collagen. Results Theamounts of type I collagen, type III collagen and the type I/III collagen were significantly different in conjunctival tissues of conjunctivochalasis group and the normal group(P 0.05). Conclusions The type I collagenin the conjunctivitis group is lower than in the normal group, while the type III collagen is more than in the normal group, so that the type I/III collagen decrease in the conjunctivochalasis group, which result in the decrease of the mechanical stability of the conjunctival tissue and may be an important reason of conjunctivochalasis. Key words: Conjunctivochalasis; Immunohistochemistry; TypeⅠ collagen; Type Ⅲ collagen