Ocular Inflammation and Corneal Permeability Alteration by Benzalkonium Chloride in Rats: A Protective Effect of a Myosin Light Chain Kinase Inhibitor

PURPOSE. The aim of this study was to evaluate the interest of an ophthalmic eyedrop preparation containing a myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) inhibitor, ML-7, in the treatment of ocular surface. The local protective effect on the inflammation and the increase of corneal permeability induced by benzalkonium (BAK) was evaluated. METHODS. An ocular instillation of 10 mu L BAK at a concentration of 0.1% in PBS was performed on rats. The eyes were rinsed with sterilized water, 10 minutes after BAK preceded by instillation at T -24, -12, and -0.5 hours of 10 mu L of ML-7: 100 mu g (10 mu L) into a gel form vehicle. All animals were sacrificed 6 hours after BAK instillation. The eyes were isolated for study in a masked manner. The ocular surface inflammation was assessed by measuring the inflammatory cell infiltration by a histologic quantitative analysis and for total ocular myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity. The tight junction permeability was tested. RESULTS. Instillation of 0.1% BAK increased the inflammation of the eye. The quantitative analysis showed an increase in the number of eosinophil and neutrophil polynuclears, and MPO activity. Pretreatment with ML-7 reduced inflammation (P < 0.05). The vehicle alone produced no notable effects. BAK instillation also thickened the fluorescent corneal front on frozen sections, indicating an increase of tight junction permeability. Pretreatment with ML-7 suppressed BAK-induced alterations of paracellular permeability while the vehicle had no visible effects. CONCLUSIONS. Our study indicates that the inhibition of corneal cytoskeleton contraction by an MLCK inhibitor prevents BAK-induced ocular inflammatory response, and that ML-7 may be a new and original preparation in the treatment of ocular surface pathologies.