Abstract
Common age-related changes in the human eye contribute to the development of dry eye, including decreases in aqueous tear production. Although the infiltration of lymphocytes into the lacrimal glands occurs with age, age-related increases in tear production have also been observed in mice; however, the mechanisms underlying this increase remain unclear. We herein demonstrated that increases in tear production were not dependent on body weight gain or systemic conditions, such as insulin resistance, using aged mice and high-fat diet-fed mice. The results obtained also showed that senescence-associated T (SA-T) cells accumulated in the lacrimal glands of aged mice, particularly females. Expression levels of the nuclear transcription factor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ) in whole lacrimal glands and epithelial cells isolated from lacrimal glands were significantly higher in aged mice than in young mice. The expression levels of adiponectin and one of its receptors, AdipoR2, also increased in the lacrimal glands of aged mice, but not in those of high-fat diet-fed mice. Collectively, the present results indicate that PPARγ and adiponectin-mediated signaling contribute to age-related increases in tear production in mice and have potential as therapeutic targets for the treatment of dry eye in humans.