Preventive effect of Angelica gigas Nakai extract oral administration on dry eye syndrome

Objective: To identify the preventive effect of Angelica gigas Nakai (A. gigas Nakai) extract in a benzalkonium chloride-induced dry eye model. Methods: A total of 28 mice were divided into 4 groups: 1) Normal group: mice received only saline; 2) positive control group: mice received an oral solution without A. gigas Nakai extract at 10:00 a.m. and 0.2% benzalkonium chloride eye drops at 2:00 p.m.; 3) A. gigas Nakai extract (5 mg); 4) A. gigas Nakai extract (10 mg). Both group 3) and group 4) received an oral solution with A. gigas Nakai extract (either 5 mg/kg or 10 mg/kg) at 10:00 a.m. and 0.2% benzalkonium chloride eye drops at 2:00 p.m. After 14 d of follow-up, tear volume measurement and fluorescein staining were evaluated for the recovery effects on ocular surface. Histologic analysis was conducted by hematoxylin and eosin staining. Apoptosis on ocular epithelium layer was examined using terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling staining. Expression of TNF- α was also measured using western blot analysis. Results: An increase in both the tear volume and the sustained fluorescein staining scores was observed, demonstrating the preventive effects of A. gigas Nakai extract. Structure changes such as irregularity of the epithelial layer and corneal epithelial cell death were inhibited in the A. gigas Nakai extract groups. Expression of TNF- α moderately declined; however, its expression level was still higher, compared to the normal group. Conclusions: Results from the current study show the significant preventive effect of A. gigas Nakai extract in a mouse model of benzalkonium chloride-induced dry eye syndrome. Thus, A. gigas Nakai extract could be considered as an oral preventive agent for dry eye syndrome in the future