Peptides protect corneas from infection of <i>A. fumigatus</i> in vivo.

<p>(A–B) Treatment of corneas with peptide Pc-C or Pc-E around infection significantly decreased the disease scores at day 3 and 5 of post infection when compared with mock treated eyes (<i>P</i><0.05), but to less extent than Natamycin. The corneas of Balb/c mice were scarified and they received a 5-µL drop of 100 µM peptide 4 times in 1 hour preinfection. Then the eyes were topically inoculated with 10⁷ CFU <i>A.f</i> conidia. After 1 hour of infection, the application of peptide continued hourly for 5 hours. On days 1, 3, 7, 10 and 14, post infection, the development of FK, if any, was monitored with a slit lamp microscope. (C) The quantities of <i>A.f</i> recovered at day 1 and 3 post infection from the corneas treated with peptide Pc-C or Pc-E were significantly less than those recovered from the mock treated control but higher than those of Natamycin treated corneas. (D) The inflammatory cell infiltration and edema in Pc-C or Pc-E peptide-treated corneas were much less than in mock-treated corneas, as determined by histopathologic studies at 3 days post infection. Corneas treated with Natamycin did not show obvious histological alteration.