Studying the Effect of Dexamethasone and Water Extract Apricot on Experimental Chemical Corneal Ulcer in Rabbit

Abstract

The present study was designed to evaluate the effect of apricot and dexamethasone on rabbit eye ulcer. Bilateral corneal ulcers were induced by a filter paper disk (4mm diameter) immersed with NaOH (1N) on central axis of cornea in 20 rabbits. These animals were divided into two groups as follows; the first group, the corneal ulcer was treated with dexamethasone eye drops 0.1% twice daily while the second group, the corneal ulcer was treated with water extract of apricot 2% twice daily.The clinical signs of corneal ulcer were evaluated by ophthalmoscope and fluorescent technique.
After killing the animals, the corneas underwent routine histopathological examination on the 1st, 3rd and 5th day after treatment. Dexamethasone shows improvement in corneal ulcer through increasing the vascularization and infiltration of cells; also it causes an increase in congestion in blood vessels but increases thickness epithelium while the apricot group shows thick corneal epithelium associated with inflammatory cells. These findings indicate that apricot was good in treating for eye ulcer.