Figure 7.

The effect of HA-containing eye drops on corneal epithelial wound healing in vivo. Effects of HA of different molecular weights and HA-containing OTC eye products on corneal epithelial wound healing were investigated in vivo using the debridement wounding model. For such, a 1 mm–diameter injury site was demarcated on the cornea of mice using a biopsy punch, and thereafter the corneal epithelial cells were removed using an AlgerBrush II rotating burr. Fluorescein stain was used to identify the injured area, and images were captured at zero, 12, and 24 hours. The injured area was calculated by manually drawing the wound edge as region of interest (ROI) using the polygonal selection function of the Image J software, and, thereafter, the area of the ROI was measured, and data were represented as the percentage of the wounded area remaining compared to zero hours. (A) Effects of HMWHA (2 mg/mL), mid-MWHA (2 mg/mL), mid-MWHAʹ (0.3 mg/mL), LMWHA (2 mg/mL), and ULMWHA (2 mg/mL) on corneal epithelial wound healing were investigated and compared to PBS, which served as the vehicle control. (B) Representative images of fluorescein-stained murine corneas that were quantified in panel A, imaged under a stereomicroscope at one, 12, 16, and 24 hours after injury. (C) Effects of eye products containing HA primarily in the HMWHA range compared to a HMWHA standard and PBS. (D) Representative images of fluorescein-stained murine corneas that were quantified in panel C, imaged under a stereomicroscope at one, 12, 16, and 24 hours after injury. (E) Effects of eye products containing HA primarily in the mid-MWHA range compared to a mid-MWHA standard at two different concentrations and PBS. (F) Representative images of fluorescein stained murine corneas that were quantified in panel E, imaged under a stereomicroscope at one, 12, 16, and 24 hours after injury.