2010•Zhonghua shiyan yanke zazhiRequires access
Evaluation of establishing meibomian gland dysfunction dry eye model by cauterizing the meibomian gland orifices and excising the tertiary eyelid
Lin An-jua
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Abstract
Background Researches showed that incidence of dry eye is an ascending tendency in China recently.Establishing an ideal animal model of dry eye is helpful for us to study the mechanism of dry eye.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to establish an animal model of dry eye induced by meibomian gland dysfunction.MethodsThe animal model of dry eye induced by meibomian gland dysfunction was established by cauterizing the meibomian gland orifices and excising the tertiary eyelid in the left eyes of 10 healthy clean New Zealand white rabbits,and the fellow eyes were used as the control eyes.Schirmer Ⅰ test and ocular surface fluorescence stain were performed before surgery and 1 day,4,11,18,25,32 days after surgery,and conjunctiva impression cytology was curried out before surgery and 7,14,28,40 days after surgery.The score of ocular surface fluorescence stain based on the van Bijsterveld's criteria.Animal models were sacrificed in 40 days after surgery and biopsy of cornea and conjunctival tissue was carried out to evaluate the pathological change under the optical microscope.The use of the experimental animals followed the Standard of Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.ResultsAll of the meibomian gland channels were closed in the first day after operation.No significant differences were found in Schirmer Ⅰ test between model group and control group(F=0.009,P=0.927) and among the different time points(F=0.667,P=0.652).The score of ocular surface fluorescence staining was increased in 4 days after operation in comparison to before operation(t=4.0,P0.05) and control group(t=4.0,P0.05).The conjunctiva goblet cell density decreased significantly in model group in 14 days after operation compared with control group(t=8.3,P0.05),and the significant declined values also were seen in model group with control group from 14 days through 40 days after operation(P0.05).The infiltration of lots of inflammatory cells was seen in the subconjunctival tissue,and the continuity of corneal epithelium was destroyed in model eye in 40 days after operation under the optical microscope.ConclusionCauterizing meibomian gland orifices and excising the tertiary eyelid can establish rabbit dry eye model successfully with good stability and reliability.