Concomitant effect of topical ubiquinone Q10 and vitamin E to prevent keratocyte apoptosis after excimer laser photoablation in rabbits

PURPOSE: To investigate in vivo whether ubiquinone Q10 together with vitamin E protects rabbit corneas from keratocyte apoptosis after excimer laser irradiation. METHODS: Photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) was performed in both eyes of three New Zealand white rabbits. During 3 days before surgery, each right eye received four-times-daily instillation of an eye-drop solution containing ubiquinone Q10 0.20% and vitamin E 0.04%; each left eye was treated with a solution that did not contain ubiquinone or vitamin E. The central cornea was analyzed after surgery using the in situ end labelling (ISEL) technique of nicked DNA to detect DNA fragmentation. To determine the number of ISEL positive nuclei, an average of 70 random microscopic fields (five for each de-epithelialized tissue section) of 138,000 mu2 were examined in the right and left cornea samples at 250X by two different observers. RESULTS: Light microscopic examination of the sections from corneas treated before PRK showed that cells committed to apoptosis by PRK were about 50% compared to those of untreated controls. CONCLUSION: Treatment of rabbit eyes before PRK with ubiquinone Q10 lowered the number of apoptotic events.