Effects of Runmu Decoction steaming on tear secretion,corneal and lacrimal gland morphology and expressions of inflammation-related proteins in rabbits with aqueous-deficient dry eye
Objective To observe the effects of Runmu Decoction steaming on tear secretion,corneal and lacrimal gland morphology,and expression levels of inflammation-related proteins in rabbits with aqueous-deficient dry eye.Methods Thirty healthy New Zealand white rabbits were randomized into blank control group,distilled water group,positive control group,combined treatment group,and Chinese medicine steaming group,with six rabbits in each group.The blank control group received no treatment,while the remaining groups were treated with 1％atropine sulfate ophthalmic gel in the eyes for 3 consecutive days.After successful modeling(starting from the 4th day of the experiment),the blank control group was fed routinely in a normal environment.The distilled water group was given distilled water that had been heated by a Chinese medicine steaming apparatus for steaming the eyes as a control treatment.The positive control group was treated with sodium hyaluronate eye drops,one drop each time,four times a day.The combined treatment group was treated with both steaming with Runmu Decoction and sodium hyaluronate eye drops.The Chinese medicine steaming group was treated with Runmu Decoction that had been heated for steaming the eyes using the Chinese medicine steaming apparatus for 15 minutes each time,once a day.Meanwhile,1％atropine sulfate eye drops were administered to all groups to maintain the model until the end of the experiment.Schirmer Ⅰ test(SⅠT)and corneal fluorescein sodium staining(CFS)scoring were conducted on the 0th,3rd,7th,10th,and 13th days of the experiment.Corneal confocal microscopy was performed on the 3rd and 13th days.The animals were sacrificed on the 13th day.The morphological changes of the corneal epithelium were observed using a light microscope,and the histomorphological changes of the corneal epithelium and lacrimal glands were observed using an electron microscope.The expression levels of interleukin-1α(IL-1α)and tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α)in the corneal tissue were measured by Western blot.Results Compared with the blank control group,on the 7th and 1 0th days,the SⅠT values of the distilled water and combined treatment groups decreased(P＜0.01),and the CFS scores of all groups increased(P＜0.05).On the 13th day,the SⅠT value of the distilled water group decreased(P＜0.01),and the CFS scores of the distilled water and positive control groups increased(P＜0.05).Compared with the distilled water group,on the 7th day,the SⅠT values of the positive control and Chinese medicine steaming groups increased(P＜0.01),and the CFS score of the combined treatment group decreased(P＜0.05).On the 10th and 13th days,the SⅠT values of the positive control and Chinese medicine steaming groups increased(P＜0.01),while their CFS scores decreased(P＜0.01).Compared with the positive control group,on the 7th day,the SⅠT value of the combined treatment group decreased(P＜0.05);on the 10th day,its CFS score increased(P＜0.05).Compared with the combined treatment group,on the 7th and 10th days,the SⅠT value of the Chinese medicine steaming group increased(P＜0.05).Compared with the blank control group,the density of corneal anterior stroma nerves in the positive control,Chinese medicine steaming,and combined treatment groups recovered to some extent,and the cell morphology was also close to that of the blank control group.No obvious corneal epithelial tissue damage was observed,and the basal cells were neatly arranged,with the morphology similar to that of the blank control group.The abundant cytoplasmic secretion of the lacrimal glands and intact,orderly corneas of the combined treatment group were the closest to those of the blank control group.Compared with the blank control group,the expression levels of IL-1α and TNF-α in the distilled water group increased(P＜0.01).Compared with the distilled water group,the expression level of IL-1α in the corneas of the positive control,Chinese medicine steaming,and combined treatment groups decreased(P＜0.01),and that of TNF-α in the Chinese medicine steaming and combined treatment groups decreased(P＜0.01).Compared with the positive control group,the expression level of TNF-α in the Chinese medicine steaming and combined treatment groups decreased(P＜0.05).Conclusion Steaming with Runmu Decoction can promote tear secretion,reduce the damage to corneal epithelium and lacrimal gland tissue,lower the expressions of IL-1α and TNF-α,and thereby inhibit the local inflammatory reaction.
Runmu DecoctionChinese medicine steamingaqueous-deficient dry eyeinflammatory factorsinterleukin-1αtumor necrosis factor-α
万方数据
维普
