Use of linseed oil to treat experimentally induced keratoconjunctivitis sicca in rabbits

Abstract

BackgroundThe objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of various linseed oil (LO) preparations (oral, topical, oral and topical combined) in treating experimentally induced keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS) in rabbits. Twenty male New Zealand white rabbits were divided into four groups: group C (control), group OLO (oral LO), group TLO (topical LO), and group OTLO (oral and topical LO). The animals were evaluated weekly using Schirmer's tear test (STT), fluorescein test (FT), and Rose Bengal test (RBT) and were euthanized at the end of the experiment for histopathological analysis.FindingsThere were significant improvements in the parameters analyzed (STT, FT, and RBT) and in the histopathological finding in all of the groups using LO.ConclusionsThe analyzed results demonstrate that LO, administered orally or topically, was effective in treating experimentally induced KCS in rabbits, although combined oral and topical LO did not show additional benefits greater than those with a single route of administration.

Comparison of 1% cyclosporine eye drops in olive oil and in linseed oil to treat experimentally-induced keratoconjunctivitis sicca in rabbits

“…A recent study compared almond and linseed oil as diluents of tacrolimus, another immunosuppressor, in the treatment of KCS in rabbits and showed that linseed oil either as a diluent or in isolation was more effective than almond oil (16) . Another study evaluated the effectiveness of various linseed oil preparations (oral, topical, and an oral/topical combination) in treating experimentally induced KCS in rabbits, and concluded that orally or topically administered linseed oil was effective in the treatment of KCS, although the combined oral/topical treatment did not show additional benefits (15) .…”

“…Linseed oil is given orally as an adjuvant therapy in patients with Sjögren's syn drome and KCS (13,14) . Some authors have reported the treatment of experimentally induced KCS in rabbits using linseed oil in various preparations (oral, topical, and oral/topical combination) (15,16) . In mice with experimentally induced KCS, the topical use of ω-3 and ω-6 has been shown to successfully control inflammatory symptoms (17) .…”

“…The induction model of KCS in rabbits was based on previously published studies that used 1% atropine sulfate eye drops three times daily (15,16,(20)(21)(22) . Atropine is a competitive antagonist of the muscarinic acetylcholine receptors.…”

Comparação entre dois protocolos de tratamento de ceratoconjuntivite seca experimentalmente induzida em coelhos

“…O uso tópico da formulação oftálmica e do óleo de linhaça rico em ômega 3 e 6 melhorou os sintomas associados à CCS com redução significativa da ocorrência de hiperemia conjuntival, secreção ocular e opacidade corneal, o que está de acordo com os relatos sobre o tratamento da CCS com melhora dos sinais clínicos com a formulação oftálmica tópica em cães (Kirk, 1984;Severin, 1995;Pickett, 2001;Andrade, 2008) e do uso de ômega 3 e 6 em animais de laboratório por via tópica (Rashid et al, 2008;Neves et al, 2013) e em humanos por via oral (Roncone et al, 2010;Pinheiro Jr. et al, 2007;Wojtowicz et al, 2011).…”

“…Outra forma de tratamento para a CCS, que vem se destacando em estudos recentes, é a utilização de ácidos graxos essenciais (AGE), ômega 3 (ω-3) e ômega 6 (ω-6), principalmente no tratamento de pacientes portadores de diversas formas de deficiência lacrimal, como na Síndrome de Sjögren humana, tanto em suplementação oral (Barabino et al, 2003;Mavragani et al, 2006;Pinheiro Jr. et al, 2007;Roncone et al, 2010;Wojtowicz et al, 2011), como em experimentos por via tópica em ratos (Rashid et al, 2008) e por via tópica e oral em coelhos (Neves et al, 2013). Os principais efeitos terapêuticos do ω-3 e ω-6 são imunomodulador e anti-inflamatório.…”