Interleukin 6 facilitates corneal epithelial wound closure in vivo.

Rapid corneal epithelial wound healing is essential to the maintenance of clear visual acuity. The cytokine interleukin 6 is thought to participate in the wound-healing process. We investigated the effect of interleukin 6 eye drops on the rate of corneal epithelial wound closure in rabbits in vivo. Recombinant human interleukin 6 in phosphate-buffered saline at concentrations of 0.1, 0.3, or 1 mg/L was administered immediately after the epithelium was débrided with the n-heptyl alcohol treatment and 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, and 28 hours after débridement. The eyes were stained with fluorescein and photographed at baseline and at 7, 10, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, and 43 hours after débridement. The rate of wound healing was calculated with a linear regression analysis based on the areas of the epithelial defects, which were recorded from hour 10 to hour 30. The mean (+/- SD) healing rate in the control group, which received phosphate-buffered saline alone, was 1.03 +/- 0.15 mm2/h. The administration of interleukin 6 at concentrations of 0.1, 0.3, or 1.0 mg/L increased the healing rate significantly (P less than .001) to 1.27, 1.39, or 1.44 mm2/h, respectively. Our results indicate that the administration of interleukin 6 might have clinical applications in the treatment of persistent corneal epithelial defects.