Abstract
To investigate the effect of coal industry-related airborne particulate matter (PM) on ocular surface tear film injury and inflammatory factor expression. Male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into the treatment group and the normal control group, with five rats in each group. A dust chamber was used to simulate the air contamination conditions associated with the coal industry. Tear secretion, tear-film breakup time (BUT), conjunctival congestion score, and relative expression levels of tear inflammatory factors, including interleukin (IL)-6, IL-17, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, were compared between the treatment group and the normal control group. After 4 weeks' exposure, tear secretion (2.64 ± 0.57 mm vs 5.42 ± 0.28 mm), BUT (4.23 ± 0.47 s vs 6.15 ± 0.36 s), and conjunctival congestion score [2 (2, 3) vs 0 (0, 1)] were significantly different between the treatment group and the control group (all P < 0.05), and hematoxylin-eosin stain showed that the number of goblet cells decreased in the treatment group. In addition, the relative expression levels of IL-6, IL-17, and TNF-α in tears of the treatment group were significantly different from those of the normal control group (all P < 0.05). Coal industry-related airborne PM exposure can damage tear film function and increase relative expression levels of tear inflammatory factors in SD rats.