Lee, Hyun SooChauhan, SunilOkanobo, AndreNallasamy, NambiDana, Reza2017-11-272011Lee, Hyun Soo, Sunil K Chauhan, Andre Okanobo, Nambi Nallasamy, and Reza Dana. 2011. “Therapeutic Efficacy of Topical Epigallocatechin Gallate in Murine Dry Eye.” Cornea 30 (12) (December): 1465–1472. doi:10.1097/ico.0b013e31821c9b5a.0277-3740http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:34387116Objective To study the efficacy of topical epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) for treatment of dry eye disease (DED). Methods Female 7–8 week old C57BL/6 mice were housed in the controlled environment chamber to induce DED. Topical 0.01% or 0.1% EGCG, or vehicle, was applied to the eyes of DED mice. Corneal fluorescein staining and the number of corneal CD11b+ cells were assessed in the different groups. Expression of IL-1β, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, Chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2) and VEGF-A/C/D were evaluated by real-time PCR in the corneas at day 9. Corneas were stained for LYVE-1 to evaluate lympangiogenesis, and the TUNEL assay was used to evaluate apoptosis of corneal epithelial cells. Results Treatment with 0.1% EGCG showed a significant decrease in corneal fluorescein staining compared with the vehicle (24.6%, P=0.001), and untreated controls (41.9%, P<0.001). A significant decrease in the number of CD11b+ cells was observed in 0.1% EGCG treated eyes, compared with the vehicle in the peripheral (23.3%, P=0.001) and central (26.1%, P=0.009) corneas. Treatment with 0.1% EGCG was associated with a significant decrease in the corneal expression of IL-1β (P=0.029), and CCL2 (P=0.001) compared to the vehicle, and in VEGF-A and -D levels compared to the untreated group (P=0.002, P=0.005, respectively). 0.01% EGCG also showed a decrease in inflammation at the molecular level, but no significant changes in the clinical signs of DED. No cellular toxicity to the corneal epithelium was observed with 0.01% or 0.1% EGCG. Conclusions Topical EGCG treatment is able to reduce the clinical signs and inflammatory changes in DED through suppressing the inflammatory cytokines expression and infiltration of CD11b+ cells in the cornea.en-USDry eye diseaseCorneaEpigallocatechin gallate (EGCG)LymphangiogenesisJournal Article2017-06-1920112017-11-2710.1097/ICO.0b013e31821c9b5a