Impact of antiandrogen treatment on the fatty acid profile of neutral lipids in human meibomian gland secretions

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the use of antiandrogen medications is associated with significant alterations in the fatty acid (F A) profiles of neutral lipids in human meibomian gland secretions. Meibomia n gland secretions were obtained from both eyes of patients receiving antia ndrogen therapy and from age related controls. Samples were processed for h igh-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry and an evaluation o f the mass/ charge ratios of neutral lipid FA. Our results demonstrate that antiandrogen therapy is associated with significant and consistent alterat ions in the mass/charge ratios of neutral lipid fractions of meibomian glan d secretions. Patients taking antiandrogen medications had significant chan ges in the occurrence of numerous diglyceride, triglyceride, and wax/choles terol ester FA products, compared with age-matched controls. Statistical an alyses of data within groups demonstrated very high correlation coefficient s, and cross-correlation analyses revealed characteristic shifts in FA patt erns between groups. Our findings show that antiandrogen use is paralleled by significant changes in the FA profiles of neutral lipid fractions in mei bomian gland secretions.