Romanian Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences

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THE THERAPEUTIC EFFECT OF MORUS ALBA LEAF EXTRACT AND THE UNDERLYING MECHANISM ON A RABBIT MODEL OF DRY EYE

JINKUI CHENG, WENSHUI LU, XIAOMING CHEN, MENGNI WANG, TIAN TIAN *

Department of Ophthalmology, Jingzhou First People's Hospital (First Affiliated Hospital of Changjiang University), Jingzhou, 434000, Hubei, China

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This study was aimed to evaluate the efficacy of different concentrations of mulberry leaf extract on the treatment of dry eye and the underlying mechanism using a model of a dry eye on castrated male rabbits. The Schirmer test (SIT) and tear break time (TBUT) were employed. After 14 days of treatment the animals were sacrificed and the lacrimal gland tissues was collected and used to determine the expressions of Bax, Bcl-2, Fas and FasL by Western blot and the expression of BAX protein by immunohistochemistry. The treatment with Morus alba leaf extract succeeded to significantly increase the score of SIT and TBUT test compared with the model group in a dose-dependent manner. This study showed that mulberry leaf extract could inhibit the expression of Bax, Fas and FasL in lacrimal gland cells of rabbits caused by androgen deficiency, thereby inhibiting lacrimal gland cell apoptosis and maintaining lacrimal gland basal secretion and could be a good candidate for replacing long term androgen therapy.