Fig. 6

7E treatment produced protective effects against LGE-induced aqueous tear-deficient DED. A mouse model of aqueous tear-deficient DED induced by surgical removal of the extra-orbital lacrimal glands on the first day of the experiment. Sham surgery was used as control mice. Mice were treated with drugs, including PBS, Xiidra, mIgG, 7E (each group, n = 5) twice a day starting on day 8, and all mice were sacrificed on day 14. a Corneal epithelial integrity was analyzed by corneal fluorescein staining on days 4, 7, 10, and 14. Representative images were taken by Micron IV with a cobalt blue filter. b Fluorescein scores were blindly assessed by four individuals. One-way ANOVA, *p < 0.05, ***p < 0.001, and ****p < 0.0001. Data are shown as the mean ± SEM. c Tear production was measured at the same time on days 4, 7, 10, and 14. One-way ANOVA, **p < 0.01 and ***p < 0.001. Data are shown as the mean ± SEM. d Corneal mRNA transcripts of Il1b, Il6, F4/80, Nos2, Arg1, Mmp9, and Tnfa were analyzed by real-time PCR using specific primers. Conjunctival mRNA transcripts of Cd4, Il17a, and Ifnγ were also measured. Gapdh was used as an internal control. One-way ANOVA, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, and ****p < 0.0001. Data are shown as the mean ± SEM. The experiments in a–d were repeated three times independently with similar results, and the data of one representative experiment was shown. LGE lacrimal gland excision, DED dry eye disease