Effects of diquafosol sodium in povidone iodine-induced dry eye model

AIM: To investigate the effects of diquafosol sodium (DQS) for dry eye model induced with povidone-iodine (PI) solution. METHODS: Ten Sprague Dawley rats as the control group. Thirty Sprague Dawley rats were used to establish the dry eye model with stimulation of 10 g/L PI for 14d, then divided rats into three groups: dry eye group with no treatment (DED group, n=10); phosphate buffer saline treated group (PBS group, n=10); diquafosol treated group (DQS group, n=10). Clinical changes were observed by tear production test, fluorescein staining, tear break-up time (TBUT) test, corneal confocal microscope and ocular surface comprehensive analyzer. Eyeballs were collected on day 10 of treatment for hematoxylin-eosin (HE), periodic acid-Schiff (PAS), and alcian blue staining. TUNEL assay, polymorphonuclear (PMN) and mucin 1 (MUC1) immunofluorescence were performed and corneal ultrastructural changes were detected by electron microscopy. RESULTS: Compared with DED and PBS groups, tear production (7.26±0.440 vs 4.07±0.474 mm; 7.26±0.440 vs 3.74±0.280 mm; all P