Abstract
Anti-glaucoma eye drop treatment often induces dry eyes and can lead to poor medication adherence. This study aimed to investigate the effects of 3% diquafosol sodium eye drops on tear function and the ocular surface epithelium in Sod1−/− mice after treatment with anti-glaucoma eye drops. The mice were divided into four groups: group 1, control group; group 2, anti-glaucoma eye drop; group 3, anti-glaucoma eye drops followed by a secretagogue eye drop (3% diquafosol); and group 4, simultaneous anti-glaucoma and secretagogue eye drop. Mice underwent assessments of tear quantity, tear film breakup time, and vital staining score. Mice in groups 3 and 4 showed significantly better tear stability and lower corneal staining scores than mice in group 2 after eye drop instillations (p < 0.05). Mice in group 4 showed significantly better tear stability, lower corneal staining scores, and higher goblet cell densities than those in group 1 after eye drop instillations (p < 0.05). The conjunctival epithelium showed stratification and abundance of Muc5AC-positive goblet cells in group 4, whereas thinning with desquamation was observed with a few goblet cells in group 2. Thus, simultaneous administration of 3% diquafosol sodium eye drops with topical anti-glaucoma drops showed favorable effects on tear stability and the corneal epithelium against the ocular surface toxicity inflicted by the anti-glaucoma eye drops.
Highlights
Glaucoma is a chronic, progressive optic neuropathy
We previously reported that Cu, Zu-superoxide dismutase-1–knockout (Sod1−/− ) mice showed ocular surface damage with a marked decrease in ocular surface Muc5AC expression and decreased tear secretion, and concluded that the Sod1−/− mouse was a good model for studying age-related dry eye disease [26]
We investigated the effect of DQS eye drops on the tear function and ocular surface alterations in Sod1−/− mice treated with antiglaucoma eye drops containing benzalkonium chloride (BAK)
Summary
According to population-based surveys, it affects 60 million people around the world, with 8.4 million people experiencing bilateral blindness as a result [1]. Treatment for glaucoma includes the use of topical eye drops that enhance aqueous outflow, reduce aqueous production, or both. Long-term control of intraocular pressure with medication is necessary to protect the optic nerve head from further damage. Many articles have reported toxic ocular adverse effects associated with various types of anti-glaucoma eye drops, especially due to their additives such as benzalkonium chloride (BAK) [2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12].
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