Abstract
Purpose :
We investigated the effect of the nanocomplex of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and catechin for the treatment of dry eye disease in a mouse model.
Methods :
Dry eye was experimentally induced in NOD.B10.H2b mice through subcutaneous injections of scopolamine and exposure to an air draft for 10 days. Ten days later, the mice were treated with normal saline (n = 8), 1% catechin (n = 8), 1% PEG (n = 8), and 1% catechin/PEG nanocomplex solution mixture containing catechin and PEG at weight ratios of 1:1 (CP1, n = 8), 1:5 (CP5, n = 8), and 1:10 (CP10, n = 8). All treatments were instilled five times per day for 10 days. We estimated the effect of PEG/catechin nanocomplexes on inflammation, on tear production, epithelium stabilization, and goblet cells density.
Results :
The desiccation stress significantly decreased tear production and increased the corneal irregularity score. Furthermore, the desiccation stress markedly increased the detached epithelial cells and decreased the numbers of goblet cells. In addition, the expression of pro-inflammatory-related factors was markedly induced by desiccation stress in the lacrimal glands. However, PEG/catechin nanocomplex effectively induced an increase in tear production, stabilization of corneal epithelium, and increase in conjunctival goblet cells and anti-inflammatory improvements in a PEG dose-dependent manner.
Conclusions :
In this study, we found that PEG may increase bioavailability of catechin. Therefore, PEG/catechin nanocomplex can be used as new biomedical material to treat dry eye disease by stabilizing the tear film and inhibiting inflammation.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2017 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017.