Do Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Levels Have Any Effect on the Severity of Dry Eye?
January 5, 2011
A recent study study used a rat model of induced dry eye to test whether a dietary deficiency of PUFA could contribute to the severity of dry eye.
Rats were fed either a balanced diet or a PUFA-deficient diet for 10 days. Clinical signs of ocular dryness were evaluated in vivo using fluorescein staining. MHC II and the rat mucin rMuc5AC were immunostained on ocular sphere cryosections. The transcript levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor, and interferon (IFN) were quantified in the exorbital lacrimal glands (LG) and in the conjunctiva.
There was no significant diet difference in fluorescein staining, rMuc5AC, and MHC II immunostaining scores. (TNF) was increased in the exorbital lacrimal glands and IL-6 was increased in the conjunctiva of the PUFA-deficient rats compared to balanced diet control rats. The authors conclude that a PUFA deficiency did not increase the severity of dry eye in a rat model.
Click here for the full abstract.
Risa Schulman, PhD
Expert, Healthy Food and Dietary Supplement Science and Marketing
Tap~Root
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