Abstract:

Objective To investigate the irritant effect of dihydroartemisinin ointment on rabbit eyes. Design Animal experimental study. Participants Twenty New Zealand rabbits. Methods Twenty rabbits were divided into 2 groups randomly. There were 10 rabbits in short-time multiple drug group (once per 15 minutes for continuous 2 hours). Local irritation signs of rabbit eyes after 6, 24, 48 and 72 hours were recorded respectively. There were other 10 rabbits in long-time drug group (5 times per day for continuous 4 weeks). Local irritation signs of rabbit eyes were recorded every week. The two groups were tested in left eye with dihydroartemisinin ointment and in right eye with ointment accessories as control. The subjects in each group were further divided into low concentration (0.4%) group of 5 eyes and high concentration (1.6%) group of 5 eyes. The cornea, iris and conjunctiva of the rabbit eyes were observed with slit lamp, during and after the administration of the drug. The irritation results were scored. The values added to the total score and then were divided by the number of rabbit eyes, which was the final score. The value between 0~3 was non-irritating. Main Outcome Measures The score of irritation test. Results  The mean score of the short-term groups was 1.0, 1.0, 0.8 and 0.4 at 6h, 24h, 48h and 72h respectively. The mean score of control group was 0.2, 0.4, 0.4 and 0.2 at 6h, 24h, 48h and 72h respectively.  In the long-term group, the mean score of 0.4% group was 1.8, 2.0, 2.2 and 2.2; the mean score of 1.6% group was 2.0, 2.2, 2.6 and 2.4 at 1 week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks and 4 weeks respectively. The mean score of control group was 0.2, 0.6, 0.4, 0.4, respectively. The mean scores of the drug group and the control group were both less than 3. Conclusions Dihydroartemisinin ointment has no irritation effects in rabbit.  （Ophthalmol CHN，2016，25： 114-117）

Key words: dihydroartemisinin ointment, rabbit eyes, animal experiment