Abstract
Purpose :
Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) seed and pulp oils have traditionally been used for a food and medicinal ingredient in eastern countries. Consumption of daily oral sea buckthorn (SB) oil was reported to attenuate the symptoms of dry eye patients. The purpose of this study was to investigate orally intake of SB pulp oil and a constituent palmitolenic acid on tear secretion using mouse stress induced dry eye model.
Methods :
Seven-week-old female C57/B6J mouse were used for this study. Mice were physically restrained in a 50-ml plastic conical tube and subjected to a stream of air directed at the animal’s head at a rate of 0.5-1.0 m/s for 4 hours. They were individually placed in cages with water and food ad libitum for the remaining time. This series of treatments was repeated for up to 5 days. SB pulp oil and palmitolenic acid was orally administered at 2.5mL/kg and 0.22mg/kg daily prior to the stress exposure respectively. Change in tear secretion was measured by the cotton thread test. Tear secretion was measured before (initial value) and 5 days. Five mice were assigned to each treatment group.
Results :
A significant decrease in tear secretion was observed in the vehicle value compared with the initial value (p < 0.01). In the SB oil and palmitolenic acid application, slight decreases in the tear secretion were observed, although the differences were not significant compared with the initial values. Change in tear secretion was significantly suppressed in the SB oil and palmitolenic acid compare to the vehicle (p < 0.05).
Conclusions :
These results indicate that SB oil restored dry eye symptoms by acting tear secretion capacity by a constituent palmitolenic acid and may represent a very potent nutritional treatment for the prevention of dry eye.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.