Again the night was too short. The lack of sleep is noticeable, among other things, on burning, dry eyes. Because: The composition of the tear film confuses too little sleep. The changed molecular mix, in turn, stimulates the corneal cells to share more. This is reported by the team around Wei from the Xiamen University in Fujian, China, in the specialist magazine "Stem Cell Reports".
The researchers examined the cornea and tear fluid of mice that had slept too little for either a few days or one to two months. This showed that with short-term sleep deprivation, potentially damaging oxygen compounds in the tear fluid increased. At the same time, the concentration of antioxidants that protect the cornea from the aggressive oxygen compounds decreased. The harmful molecules, in turn, stimulated the progenitor cells of the corneal tissue to multiply. After the mice were treated with the antioxidant L-gluthation, the cells divided less frequently. If the rodents got less sleep in the long term, the corneal layer in their eyes thinned out – a possible sign that the corneal stem cells had been damaged and fewer new cells were formed.
The transparent cornea breaks the incident light and is therefore important for sharp vision. It is covered by a protective tear film. If it is irritated, burning and itching her eyes. Severe corneal injuries also affect vision.
