Dry eye syndrome model established in rabbits via mitomycin C injection in the lacrimal gland

I-Chan Lin; Yu-Chio Wang; Yi-Zhou Chen; Yu-Jun Tang; Ko-Hua Chen; Ching-Li Tseng

doi:10.4103/tjo.tjo_11_22

Dry eye syndrome model established in rabbits via mitomycin C injection in the lacrimal gland

Taiwan J Ophthalmol. 2022 May 4;13(1):34-42. doi: 10.4103/tjo.tjo_11_22. eCollection 2023 Jan-Mar.

Authors

I-Chan Lin^{1

2}, Yu-Chio Wang^{3

4}, Yi-Zhou Chen⁵, Yu-Jun Tang⁵, Ko-Hua Chen^{2

6}, Ching-Li Tseng^{5

7

8

9}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Ophthalmology, Taipei Medical University Shuang Ho Hospital, New Taipei City, Taiwan.
² Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei City, Taiwan.
³ School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei City, Taiwan.
⁴ Department of General Medicine, MacKay Memorial Hospital, New Taipei City, Taiwan.
⁵ Graduate Institute of Biomedical Materials and Tissue Engineering, College of Biomedical Engineering, Taipei Medical University, Taipei City, Taiwan.
⁶ Department of Ophthalmology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei City, Taiwan.
⁷ International Ph.D. Program in Biomedical Engineering, College of Biomedical Engineering, Taipei Medical University, Taipei City, Taiwan.
⁸ International Ph.D. Program in Cell Therapy and Regenerative Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei City, Taiwan.
⁹ Research Center of Biomedical Device, College of Biomedical Engineering, Taipei Medical University, Taipei City, Taiwan.

Abstract

Purpose: To develop a new dry eye syndrome (DES) animal model by injecting mitomycin C (MMC) into the lacrimal glands (LGs) of rabbits evaluated by clinical examinations.

Materials and methods: A volume of 0.1 mL of MMC solution was injected in the LG and the infraorbital lobe of the accessory LG of rabbits for DES induction. Twenty male rabbits were separated into three groups, the control group, and different concentration of MMC, (MMC 0.25: 0.25 mg/mL or MMC 0.50: 0.5 mg/mL) were tested. Both MMC-treated groups received MMC twice injection on day 0 and day 7. Assessment of DES included changes in tear production (Schirmer's test), fluorescein staining pattern, conjunctival impression cytology, and corneal histological examination.

Results: After MMC injection, no obvious changes in the rabbit's eyes were noted by slit-lamp examination. Both the MMC 0.25 and the MMC 0.5 groups revealed decreased tear secretion after injection, and the MMC 0.25 group showed a continuous decrease in tear secretion up to 14 days. Fluorescent staining showed punctate keratopathy in both MMC-treated groups. In addition, both MMC-treated groups demonstrated decreased numbers of conjunctival goblet cells after injection.

Conclusion: This model induced decreased tear production, punctate keratopathy, and decreased numbers of goblet cells, which are consistent with the current understanding of DES. Therefore, injecting MMC (0.25 mg/mL) into the LGs is an easy and reliable method to establish a rabbit DES model which can apply in new drug screening.

Keywords: Animal model; dry eye syndrome; goblet cells; lacrimal gland; mitomycin C; rabbit; tear production.