Abstract
Removal of lacrimal glands is used as a viable model of dry eye disease in rats. However, there is no uniform agreement on the disease severity following different variants of the procedure. The interpretation of the modeled dry eye disease also is biased by the interchangeable use of male and female rats. Therefore, this study seeks to define the features of dry eye disease following removal of the extraorbital lacrimal gland, with or without excision of the infraorbital lacrimal gland in male and female rats. The experiments were performed in 12-week-old female and male Sprague-Dawley rats. The baseline blink rate and fluorescein score were assessed. Subsequently, rats underwent isolated removal of the extraorbital gland, removal of the extraorbital gland combined with excision of the infraorbital gland, or a sham surgical procedure. The assessment of blink rate and fluorescein scores was repeated 28 days following surgery. Corneas were collected for histological analysis. We found that the blink rate and fluorescein score increased in all of the experimental groups, except the control group and the male rats that underwent isolated removal of the extraorbital lacrimal gland. Histopathological analysis revealed the thinning and edema of the epithelium in all groups, except the control group. These changes were most pronounced in female rats following combined removal of extraorbital and infraorbital lacrimal glands. In conclusion, severity of dry eye disease in the rat model is influenced by both gender and the extent of surgical removal of lacrimal glands. Combined excision of lacrimal glands in female rats produced the most severe pathological changes, whereas isolated excision of the extraorbital lacrimal gland in male rats led to the least severe changes.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Barabino S, Dana MR (2004) Animal models of dry-eye: a critical assessment of opportunities and limitations. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 45:1641–1646
Barabino S, Chen W, Dana MR (2004) Tear film and ocular surface tests in animal models of dry-eye: uses and limitations. Exp Eye Res 79:613–621
Deswal J, Arya SK, Raj A, Bhatti A (2017) A case of bilateral corneal perforation in a patient with severe dry-eye. J Clin Diagn Res 11:ND01–ND02
Ehrmann C, Schneider MR (2016) Genetically modified laboratory mice with sebaceous glands abnormalities. Cell Mol Life Sci 73:4623–4642
Fujihara T, Murakami T, Fujita H, Nakamura M, Nakata K (2001) Improvement of corneal barrier function by the P2Y(2) agonist INS365 in a rat dry-eye model. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 42:96–100
Gilbard JP, Rossi SR, Heyda KG (1989) Tear film and ocular surface changes after closure of the meibomian gland orifices in the rabbit. Ophthalmology 96:1180–1186
Higuchi A, Takahashi K, Hirashima M, Kawakita T, Tsubota K (2010) Selenoprotein P controls oxidative stress in cornea. PLoS One 5:e9911
Higuchi A, Kawakita T, Tsubota K (2011) IL-6 induction in desiccated corneal epithelium in vitro and in vivo. Mol Vis 17:2400–2406
Meng ID, Barton ST, Mecum NE, Kurose M (2015) Corneal sensitivity following lacrimal gland excision in the rat. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 56:3347–3354
Offord EA, Sharif NA, Macé K, Tromvoukis Y, Spillare EA, Avanti O, Howe WE, Pfeifer AM (1999) Immortalized human corneal epithelial cells for ocular toxicity and inflammation studies. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 40:1091–1101
Percy DH, Wojcinski ZW, Schunk MK (1989) Sequential changes in the harderian and exorbital lacrimal glands in Wistar rats infected with sialodacryoadenitis virus. Vet Pathol 26:238–245
Perry HD (2008) Dry-eye disease: pathophysiology, classification, and diagnosis. Am J Manag Care 14:S79–S87
Schrader S, Mircheff AK, Geerling G (2008) Animal models of dry-eye. Dev Ophthalmol 41:298–312
Stapleton F, Alves M, Bunya VY, Jalbert I, Lekhanont K, Malet F, Na KS, Schaumberg D, Uchino M, Vehof J, Viso E, Vitale S, Jones L (2017) TFOS DEWS II epidemiology report. Ocul Surf 15:334–365
Stevenson W, Chen Y, Lee SM, Hua J, Dohlman T, Shiang T, Dana R (2014) Extraorbital lacrimal gland excision: a reproducible model of severe aqueous tear-deficient dry-eye disease. Cornea 33:1336–1341
Sullivan DA, Rocha EM, Aragona P, Clayton JA, Ding J, Golebiowski B, Hampel U, McDermott AM, Schaumberg DA, Srinivasan S, Versura P, Willcox MDP (2017) TFOS DEWS II sex, gender, and hormones report. Ocul Surf 15:284–333
Conflicts of Interest
The authors report no conflicts of interest in relation to this article.
Ethical Approval
All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. All procedures performed in studies involving animals were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institution or practice at which the studies were conducted. The study was approved by a local Bioethics Committee.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Skrzypecki, J., Tomasz, H., Karolina, C. (2019). Variability of Dry Eye Disease Following Removal of Lacrimal Glands in Rats. In: Pokorski, M. (eds) Medical Science and Research. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology(), vol 1153. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/5584_2019_348
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/5584_2019_348
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-19058-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-19059-0
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)