Topical allopurinol or corticosteroids and acetylcysteine in the early treatment of experimental corneal alkali burns: a pilot study.

PURPOSE

To investigate the effect of topical allopurinol on experimental corneal burns and to compare this to established treatment modalities such as topical prednisolone and acetylcysteine.

METHODS

Twenty Wistar rats were randomly assigned to four groups (n=5 each). The groups were controls (normal saline), allopurinol 0.4% eye drops, prednisolone acetate 1% eye drops and acetylcysteine 8% eyedrops. Corneal burn was induced using a 3 mm paper disc soaked in 1N NaOH for 60 seconds. Drops were instilled 6 times per day. In addition, one drop/day ofloxacine was given to prevent secondary infections. Eyes were enucleated 50 hours later and fixed in 4.5% formaldehyde. Three histological levels of each globe were stained with hematoxylin-eosin and examined by two independent masked investigators using a 0 to 4+ inflammatory score. All pair-wise multiple comparison procedures (Student-Newman-Keuls method) were applied for statistical work-up.

RESULTS

All three substances significantly reduced the number of histologically visible inflammatory cells compared to the control group (p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

In the present study, topical allopurinol was as effective as established drugs, namely steroids and acetylcysteine, in the early treatment of experimental alkali corneal burns.