Wiley, Basic and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, p. n/a-n/a, 2012
DOI: 10.1111/j.1742-7843.2012.00896.x
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Dry eye syndrome (DES) or keratoconjunctivitis sicca is an eye disease caused by the chronic lack of lubrication and moisture of the eye. The pathogenesis of DES involves the over-expression and over-activity of corneal Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9). We propose herein a new, non-symptomatic approach for the treatment of DES based on the inhibition of MMP-9 by a new highly soluble molecule, designed as PES_103 that has been shown to inhibit MMP-9 both in vitro and in vivo. The efficacy of PES_103 in vivo and the potential benefits of this treatment in restoring tear production were studied in this work using an animal model of reduced lacrimation. PES_103 did not show any significant corneal toxicity.