Efficacy of Topical Boric Acid in the Treatment of Experimental Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Keratitis in Rats

INTRODUCTION: It was aimed to investigate the effect of topical boric acid on healing in the treatment of keratitis. METHODS: Keratitis was created by randomly 32 of 56 healthy rats with inoculating pseudomonas aeruginosa (1x108 colony-forming units/ml 0.05 ml of solution containing pseudomonas eruginosa-PA-ATC27853) by creating epithelial defects in the corneas and randomly distributed to 4 groups. The remaining 24 healthy rats were randomly divided into 3 groups, so that; group 1 (control group), group 2 (with pseudomonas keratitis), group 3 (with pseudomonas keratitis and 4% boric acid treatment), group 4 (with pseudomonas keratitis and 8% boric acid treatment), group 5 (with pseudomonas keratitis and vancomycin+ ceftazidime given), group 6 (non-keratitis and only 4% boric acid applied), group 7 (non-keratitis and only 8% boric acid applied). At the end of the study, the ocular tissues of the rats were removed and examined histopathologically. RESULTS: A clinically significant reduction in inflammation was detected in the groups using topical boric acid (p˂0,05). Decreased TGF-β1 staining was detected in the groups in which keratitis + %4 and %8 boric acid was treated topically (p˂0,05). Compared to the infected group (group 2), 4% and 8% boric acid administered groups revealed mild/moderate corneal edema and thickening, degeneration of the corneal epithelium, and mild/moderate inflammation in the interstitial (p˂0,05). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Topical boric acid drops may be an important therapeutic factor in tissue healing and in the fight against inflammation in the treatment of keratitis.