Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of the lipid mediator Resolvin D1 in experimental keratitis. C57BL/6J mice were injected with lipopolysaccharide (2 µg/eye), and after 24 hours, the corneal damage was assessed. Clinical score was quantified, and corneal inflammatory biomarkers were detected by immunohistochemistry. A robust accumulation of sub-epithelial macrophages and polymorphonuclear leucocytes, chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 1 (also known as keratinocyte-derived chemokine), interleukin-10 and promoters of apoptosis was also observed in lipopolysaccharide-treated mice. Formyl peptide receptor 2 corneal expression was also assessed. The corneal stroma treated with lipopolysaccharide was characterized by presence of macrophages of M1-like subtype and immature fibroblastic cells, marked with Ki67, not fully differentiated in fibroblasts. Indeed, the staining of the cornea with anti-vimentin antibodies, a marker of differentiated myofibroblasts, was very faint. Resolvin D1 attenuated all the inflammatory parameters assessed in the present study, except for IL-10. In conclusion, the data presented here seem to be consistent with the hypothesis that Resolvin D1 protected the cornea from the lipopolysaccharide-induced keratitis by acting on several inflammatory components of this damage, pivoted by Formyl peptide receptor 2 (FPR2) activation and macrophages-leucocytes activity.