Basic and clinical immunology – 3029. Secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor plays an important role in the regulation of eye inflammation and wound healing

Abstract

Methods We used immunohistochemistry to localize SLPI and MMPs in normal and inflamed-infected rat eye tissues. The expression levels of SLPI mRNA protein were evaluated by RT-PCR and western blotting. Eighty female Lewis rats (200g) were randomly divided into four test groups as follows: 1) Staphylococcus aureus endophthalmitis, 2) S.a. keratitis, 3) HSV keratitis, 4) Photorefractive keratectomy. Forty eight hours post-injury or infection, the animals were sacrificed and the eyes processed for the experimental studies. The values of SLPI bands from western blots were quantified by densitometry analysis and subjected to statistical analysis (p 0.05, Mann-Whitney test) to determine whether there was a difference between the treatment and the control eye groups.