Original Article Efficacy of the Mineral Oil and Hyaluronic Acid Mixture Eye Drops

on the tear film and ocular surface in a mouse model of experimental dry eye (EDE). Methods: Eye drops consisting of 0.1 % HA alone or mixed with 0.1%, 0.5%, or 5.0 % MO were applied to desic-cating stress-induced murine dry eyes. Tear volume, corneal irregularity score, tear film break-up time (TBUT), and corneal fluorescein staining scores were measured at 5 and 10 days after treatment. Ten days after treatment, goblet cells in the conjunctiva were counted after Periodic acid-Schiff staining. Results: There was no significant difference in the tear volume between desiccating stress-induced groups. The corneal irregularity score was lower in the 0.5 % MO group compared with the EDE and HA groups. The 0.5 % and 5.0 % MO groups showed a significant improvement in TBUT compared with the EDE group. Mice treated with 0.1 % and 0.5 % MO mixture eye drops showed a significant improvement in fluorescein staining scores compared with the EDE group and the HA group. The conjunctival goblet cell count was higher in the 0.5 % MO group compared with the EDE group and HA group. Conclusions: The MO and HA mixture eye drops had a beneficial effect on the tear films and ocular surface of murine dry eye. The application of 0.5 % MO and 0.1 % HA mixture eye drops could improve corneal irregulari-ty, the corneal fluorescein staining score, and conjunctival goblet cell count compared with 0.1 % HA eye drop