Comparisons of Tear Proteins in the Cow, Horse, Dog and Rabbit

Abstract

Tear proteins play a major role in normal corneal health.1 Several changes in tear proteins have been shown to be related to direct corneal irritation.2 In veterinary medicine, differences between species often occurs in the clinical response to corneal irritation and external ocular disease. These differences may be a reflection of various factors including tear proteins. There is little information available on tear film properties in veterinary species. Some studies have evaluated the protein concentration for selected species; with little information on the molecular weight distribution of the proteins.3–7 This project was undertaken to determine normal protein concentration and molecular weight distribution of tear proteins in the cow, the horse, the rabbit and the dog.KeywordsMolecular Weight DistributionLacrimal GlandQuarter HorseGland FluidHigh Molecular Weight RangeThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.