Med Lasers  
Effect of minocycline ointment on meibomian gland dysfunction in a rat model
Hong Bee Kim, Hoon Kim, Seung Yong Choi, Dong Cho Lee, Kyong Jin Cho
Department of Ophthalmology, Dankook University College of Medicine, Cheonan, Republic of Korea
Correspondence to: Kyong Jin Cho
E-mail: perfecture@hanmail.net
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1468-467X
Received: October 5, 2023; Accepted: October 26, 2023; Published online: November 13, 2023.
© Korean Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery. All rights reserved.

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of topical minocycline on meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) in a rat model and contribute to the understanding of its use for the treatment of MGD.
Methods: To establish an MGD rat model, complete Freund’s adjuvant injections were administered. The rats were randomly assigned to six groups (control, control with minocycline, MGD, MGD with minocycline, MGD with oxytetracycline, and MGD with cyclosporine), and each group received treatments twice daily for three weeks. During the experimental period, ocular symptom score assessments, including tear break-up time, meibomian swelling, telangiectasia, and corneal fluorescein staining, were performed and analyzed. After 3 weeks, tissues were gathered, examined under a light microscope, and subjected to immunohistochemistry analysis.
Results: The results showed that the minocycline treatment group had a significantly lower fluorescein staining score, lower levels of inflammation in the tissues, and longer tear break-up time compared to the MGD group. The study found that topical minocycline had a positive effect in controlling the level of inflammation in ocular tissues and improving the ocular sign scores compared to the other treatments.
Conclusion: The study investigated the potential of topical minocycline in treating MGD and found that it had positive effects in reducing inflammation and improving ocular signs, when compared to other treatments. The main advantages of topical minocycline include the low incidence of side effects and high drug concentrations in the ocular tissues.
Keywords: Meibomian gland; Meibomian gland dysfunction; Minocycline

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