Abstract
Purpose :
Inflammation plays an important role in dry eye syndrome (DES) pathogenesis. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of an ocular surface modulator on inflammatory markers compared to substitute tears in an in vitro model of DES.
Methods :
A reconstructed human corneal epithelium (HCE) model challenged by the introduction of sorbitol in the culture medium for 16 hours was used to induce corneal damage and inflammation similar to DES. In the study group HCE cells were treated with topical application of 30 μl of the ocular surface modulator T-Lysyal, in the control group with a substitute tear containing sodium carboxymethylcellulose 0.5%, glycerine 1%, and castor oil 0.25%. A negative control treated with saline solution was used for comparisons. After 16, 22, and 46 hours the following parameters were quantified: mRNA expression of TGFβ1, Metalloprotease 1(MMP-1), ICAM-1, Caspase 14 (CASP14), and CD44.
Results :
The study group showed significant reduction of TGFβ1 and MMP-1 compared to controls at all time points. ICAM-1 expression was increased after 16 hours in the study group and returned to normal values after 22 hours, while no changes were recorded in the control group. CD44 and CASP14 were increased in the control group only after 16 hours.
Conclusions :
This study has shown for the first time that it is possible to control inflammation by using a modulator of the ocular surface. Further in vivo studies are certainly necessary to confirm these results
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.