Detection of Secondary Corneal Lactoferrin Amyloidosis Based on Histologic Biopsies Combined with Mass Spectrometry: A Case Report

Tohoku J Exp Med. 2022 Aug 6;258(1):43-48. doi: 10.1620/tjem.2022.J054. Epub 2022 Jul 7.

Abstract

Amyloidosis is characterized by systemic or local deposition of amyloid fibrils outside organs and tissues. Amyloidosis is rarely seen on cornea. A 30-year-old woman patient had had trichiasis in both eyes for 8 years. Trichiasis was observed, which touched the cornea. Slit lamp microscopy showed white gelatinous droplet-like eminences and trichiasis in the lower cornea of the right eye. Optical coherence tomography showed that the lesion involved most of the cornea. Hematoxylin and eosin staining showed that most of the stroma stained red, with scattered inflammatory cells. High expression of lactoferrin was detected by mass spectrometry, and the case was diagnosed as secondary corneal lactoferrin amyloidosis in the right eye.

Keywords: amyloidosis; case report; cornea; lactoferrin; mass spectrometry analysis.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Amyloidosis* / complications
  • Amyloidosis* / diagnostic imaging
  • Amyloidosis, Familial
  • Biopsy / adverse effects
  • Cornea / metabolism
  • Cornea / pathology
  • Corneal Dystrophies, Hereditary* / complications
  • Eyelashes* / metabolism
  • Eyelashes* / pathology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Lactoferrin
  • Mass Spectrometry
  • Trichiasis* / complications

Substances

  • Lactoferrin

Supplementary concepts

  • Corneal dystrophy, gelatinous drop-like