Abstract
Purpose: :
The efficacy of vitamin A for keratoconjunctival disease has been reported, and improvement of keratosis of the keratoconjuntival epithelium and an increase of conjunctival goblet cells have been demonstrated. We investigated the effects of vitamin A (retinol palmitate (VApal)) eye drops in rabbit models of corneal and conjuntival epithelial damage after n-heptanol treatment.
Methods: :
After keratoconjunctival injury by 20 µL of n-heptanol, VApal eye drops (500, 1,000 or 1,500 IU/mL) or vehicle were started six times a day for 11 days. Fluorescein and rose bengal staining and histological analysis (HE and PAS staining) were performed.
Results: :
The fluorescein score was significantly reduced in the 1,000 IU/mL and 1,500 IU/mL VApal-treated eyes compared with the vehicle-treated eyes at 7 and 9 days after treatment (p<0.05). The rose bengal score was significantly reduced in the VApal-treated eyes compared with the vehicle-treated eyes at 7, 9, and 11 days after treatment with 500 IU/mL (p<0.05) of VApal, at 5, 7, and 9 days after treatment with 1,000 IU/mL (p<0.01) of VApal, and at 3, 5, and 7 days (p<0.01) and 9 and 11 days (p<0.05) after treatment with 1,500 IU/mL of VApal. Histological examination revealed that the keratoconjunctival epithelial defect was healed and the increased number of goblet cells was noted at 7 days after treatment with VApal (1,500 IU/mL) more than vehicle.
Conclusions: :
VApal eye drops may be useful in treatment of keratoconjunctival injury, and the earlier improvement of the rose bengal score than that of the fluorescein socore suggests the possibility that tear mucin film was stabilized at an early stage by VApal.
Keywords: cornea: epithelium • cornea: surface mucins • cornea: tears/tear film/dry eye