Fermented Cordyceps cicadae Mycelia Extracts Ameliorate Dry Eye Symptoms through Reduction of Cornea Epithelial Cell Apoptosis and Maintenance of Conjunctival Goblet Cells in a Mouse Dry Eye Model

Tung-Yu Lin¹, Han-Hsin Chang², Yu-Jun Tang³, Chin-Chu Chen^{4, 5}, Li-Ya Lee⁶ and David Pei-Cheng Lin^{1, 7,}

¹Department of Medical Laboratory and Biotechnology, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung City, Taiwan

²Department of Nutrition, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung City, Taiwan

³Institute of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung City, Taiwan

⁴Institute of Food Science and Technology, National Taiwan University, Taiwan

⁵Department of Food Science, Nutrition, and Nutraceutical Biotechnology, Shih Chien University, Taiwan

⁶Department of Veterinary Medicine, National Chung Hsin University, Taiwan

⁷Department of Ophthalmology, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung City, Taiwan

Cite this paper:
Tung-Yu Lin, Han-Hsin Chang, Yu-Jun Tang, Chin-Chu Chen, Li-Ya Lee and David Pei-Cheng Lin. Fermented Cordyceps cicadae Mycelia Extracts Ameliorate Dry Eye Symptoms through Reduction of Cornea Epithelial Cell Apoptosis and Maintenance of Conjunctival Goblet Cells in a Mouse Dry Eye Model. Journal of Food and Nutrition Research. 2017; 5(5):320-330. doi: 10.12691/jfnr-5-5-6

Abstract

Cordyceps cicadae (Cc), a traditional Chinese medicine, has been shown to possess immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory activities, and is regarded as having effects in vision improvement, but with no reported evidence. This study investigated the effects of Cordyceps cicadae fermented mycelia extracts (Cc extracts) in a benzalkonium chloride (BAC)-induced mouse dry eye model. Female ICR mice aged 6 weeks were randomly divided into four groups: blank, BAC-damaged without Cc extracts, BAC-damaged with 10 mg/kg bodyweight of Cc extracts, BAC-damaged with 100 mg/kg bodyweight of Cc extracts. The results showed that tear volume, tear film breakup time, and cornea surface indexes, including smoothness, opacity, topography, and the extent of lissamine green staining, were all improved with intake of Cc extracts intake, when compared to the status of the BAC-damaged group without Cc extracts. Immunohistochemical assays showed moderate change of Ki-67⁺ and Np63⁺ epithelial cell populations, while apoptotic epithelial cells, as detected by TUNEL assay, were decreased. PAS stain showed that the conjunctival goblet cell number and total cell area were decreased in the BAC-damaged group with Cc extracts at 10 mg/kg bodyweight. This study demonstrated that Cc extracts effectively ameliorate BAC-induced dry eye symptoms through enhancement of cornea resilience against BAC-induced damages and maintenance of conjunctival goblet cells.

Keywords:
Cordyceps cicadae mycelia extracts amelioration dry eye symptoms cornea epithelial cell apoptosis conjunctival goblet cells

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