Approach to Dry Eye in Video Display Terminal Workers (Basic Science).

The use of video display terminals (VDT) and staring at screens of technologic devices, including desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones have become ubiquitous in a wide range of age groups because of the rapid advance of network culture-mediated communications. The incidence of dry eye is particularly high in workers that work with VDT. To facilitate an understanding of the mechanisms of VDT-associated dry eye, as well as to develop novel treatment approaches, a VDT worker dry eye model was created. The procedure involved placing rats on a swing in combination with exposure to an evaporative environment. This animal model reveals that the blink frequency was reduced to one-third of the nonswing riding levels, which is similar to the results that have been reported by VDT users. Pathologic analysis of the lacrimal gland in this dry eye model showed that the decrease in tear secretion was accompanied by a decrease in the acinar cell number, and an enlargement of acinar cells was accompanied by filling with an increased volume of secretory vesicles and a loss of intracellular cell structure, suggesting the involvement of lacrimal hypofunction. An interventional study using this dry eye model showed that oral supplementation of some natural ingredients is a possible therapy for relieving symptoms of VDT-associated dry eye. Further investigations for the establishment of VDT use-associated dry eye models that may be used to evaluate ocular discomfort that mimic the condition in humans are needed to understand and modify this type of dry eye.