title: Effect of topical corticosteroids on goblet-cell density in an alkali-burn model.
abstract: Conjunctival alkali burns result in a loss of goblet cells in the acute postinjury period. A deficiency of goblet cells and their primary product, mucin, is associated with both short- and long-term ocular sequelas. We evaluated the effect of topical corticosteroids on goblet-cell density in a prospective, randomized, controlled trial using 24 eyes of 12 adult albino rabbits in which a standard conjunctival burn was made. The treatment group was found to have 97.38 goblet cells per unit area of conjunctiva; the control group had 65.81 goblet cells per unit area of conjunctiva. This was a statistically significant difference (P less than .02). These results suggest that topical steroids are beneficial in suppressing goblet-cell loss after a conjunctival alkali burn.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Ophthalmology, Tulane University Medical Center, New Orleans, LA 70130.
authors.forename: B D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Brent
authors.forename: Z A
authors.initials: ZA
authors.lastname: Karcioglu
mesh_terms: D000287:Administration, Topical; D000818:Animals; D002057:Burns, Chemical / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002452:Cell Count; D003228:Conjunctiva / Q000473:pathology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005126:Eye Burns / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000473:pathology*; D011239:Prednisolone / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011817:Rabbits; D011897:Random Allocation; D012972:Sodium Hydroxide
chemical_list: D012972:Sodium Hydroxide; C009022:prednisolone phosphate; D011239:Prednisolone