The effect of chlorhexidine, povidone‐iodine and betadine antiseptic eye drops on cultured human conjunctival goblet cell survival

Abstract

AbstractPurpose: To compare the effect of ocular antiseptic treatment in terms of 0.05% aqueous chlorhexidine, 5% povidone‐iodine (PI) and 5% betadine on cell viability and mucin secretion of primary cultured human goblet cells.Methods: Cell viability of primary cultured human goblet cells was analysed using lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and tetrazolium dye (MTT) colorimetric assays. Expression of mucin was visualized by immunohistochemical staining of MUC5AC.Results: According to the LDH assay, PI and betadine significantly reduced goblet cell survival compared to controls (mean cell survival 23% ± 6 and 23% ± 7, respectively) (p < 0.05), whereas chlorhexidine (mean cell survival 78 ± 17) did not significantly affect goblet cell viability. Similar results were obtained from the MTT assay, where PI and betadine caused a significant loss of goblet cells (mean cell survival 26% ± 12 and 26% ± 13, respectively) (p < 0.05), and chlorhexidine caused a non‐significant loss of goblet cells compared to controls (mean cell survival 79% ± 8).Conclusions: PI and betadine, the most used antiseptic treatments prior to ocular surgery, are significantly more cytotoxic on conjunctival goblet cells compared to chlorhexidine.