Preclinical development of artificial tears based on an extract of Artemia salina containing dinucleotides in rabbits.

PURPOSE To evaluate the preclinical efficacy of eye drops based on an extract of Artemia salina on the ocular surface of rabbits. Tear secretion, tear break-up time and corneal staining were measured. MATERIAL AND METHODS A preclinical and short-term prospective study was performed. Twenty New Zealand white rabbits were divided into 5 groups, with 4 rabbits per group, each receiving a different concentration of Artemia salina. In each rabbit, an extract of Artemia salina (2%, 4%, 6%, 8% or 10%) was randomly instilled in one eye and saline solution (negative control) in the other eye. Tear secretion, tear break-up time and corneal staining were measured before and after the instillation of 5 drops per eye (1 drop per hour) on the same day. RESULTS In tear secretion, there was an increase of 43.88 ± 6.73% with 4% Artemia salina in comparison with its baseline measurement (P = 0.049). The rest of the groups did not show differences (P ≥ 0.05). For tear break-up time, none of the groups showed differences (P ≥ 0.05), while for corneal staining score, there was an improvement of 0.88 ± 0.83 with 4% Artemia salina (P = 0.038) and a deterioration of 0.50 ± 0.83 with control solution (P = 0.008). CONCLUSIONS Short-term instillation of eye drops with 4% Artemia salina produced both stimulation of tear secretion and a slight improvement of physiological corneal staining. Besides, all the doses of up to 10% Artemia salina did not produce undesirable side effects on the ocular surface. Therefore, these eye drops are presented as a possible new treatment for dry eye due to their secretagogue properties and ocular surface regeneration.