Comparative analysis of 0.1% cyclosporin A cationic emulsion and 0.05% cyclosporin A emulsion in murine dry eye cases with different severities

• Published in: Experimental and therapeutic medicine 2021-12, Vol.22 (6), Article 1363
• Main Authors: Jin, Rujun, Li, Ying, Li, Lan, Kim, Jonghwa, Yoon, Hyeon Jeong, Yoon, Kyung Chul
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Comparative analysis; Cyclosporine; Dosage and administration; Drug therapy; Dry eye syndromes; Emulsions; Ophthalmic drugs; Testing
• ISSN: 1792-0981; 1792-1015
• DOI: 10.3892/etm.2021.10797

Dry eye (DE), especially severe DE (SDE), can cause ocular surface defects and reduce the patient's quality of life. Several clinical studies have shown that 0.1% cyclosporin A cationic emulsion (CsA CE) could decrease corneal damage. However, no experimental study has reported the effect of 0.1% CsA CE on SDE. The present study aimed to compare the efficacy of 0.1% CsA CE with that of 0.05% CsA emulsion for ocular surface damage and inflammation in the cases of murine DE with different severities. Following exposure to desiccating stress and subcutaneous injection of scopolamine for 5 days, C57BL/6 female mice were divided into SDE and non-SDE (NSDE) groups based on corneal fluorescein staining scores (CFSs). Mice from both groups were topically treated with 0.05% CsA emulsion or 0.1% CsA CE for 10 days. The results demonstrated that 0.1% CsA CE-treated mice in the SDE and NSDE groups exhibited significant improvements in all the clinical and experimental parameters. Furthermore, the CFS of 0.1% CsA CE-treated mice in the SDE group was lower compared with that of the 0.05% CsA-treated mice. In addition, in the SDE group, 0.1% CsA CE-treated mice had significantly lower levels of nuclear factor-KB activation, inflammatory infiltrations and apoptosis on the ocular surface, and they also exhibited higher conjunctival goblet cell density compared with the 0.05% CsA-treated mice. In summary, these findings indicated that 0.1% CsA CE was more effective than topical 0.05% CsA emulsion at improving corneal epithelial injury and decreasing the levels of inflammatory cytokines and T cells in mice with SDE. Key words: severe dry eye, cyclosporin A, cationic emulsion, inflammation, ocular surface damage