LACTOFERRIN SUPPRESSES LOSS OF CORNEAL EPITHELIAL INTEGRITY IN A RABBIT SHORT-TERM DRY EYE MODEL

Human tear fluid contains lactoferrin at the highest concentration. In patients with dry eye such as Sjogren's syndrome, the concentration o f lactoferrin in the tears is approximately half the normal value. The present study utilizes a short-term rabbit dry eye model to evaluate if lactoferrin containing eye drops can reverse any of the damage prod uced by blockage of blinking with an ocular speculum. Damage was evalu ated based on the extent of methylene blue staining in histological se ctions. After 3 h of desiccation, the amount of extractable dye recove red following sacrifice increased by more than 4-fold in the vehicle-t reated eyes. However, in those rabbits treated with 1% lactoferrin, dy e recovery was only 40% of the value in the vehicle-treated eyes. Betw een 1-3 h and over a concentration range from 0.01 to 1% lactoferrin, the decreases in staining were both time and concentration dependent. Alternatively, if 1% lactoferrin was applied during the desiccation pe riod, there was partial restoration of corneal epithelial integrity. T hese results suggest that lactoferrin may be of therapeutic value in d ecreasing the loss of corneal epithelial integrity in dry eye.