The number and the percentage of dead corneal epithelial cells after 30 minutes of desiccation under different preceding conditions
| Dead cells/total cells (%) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preincubation | Well No 1 | Well No 2 | Well No 3 | Well No 4 | Well No 5 | Well No 6 | Median percentage |
| PBS | 525/623 (84.3) | 603/869 (69.4) | 429/867 (49.5) | 237/259 (91.5) | 381/493 (74.8) | 410/569 (72.1) | 73.5 |
| Mytear | 428/875 (48.9) | 483/1085 (44.5) | 372/538 (69.1) | 310/363 (85.4) | 280/335 (83.6) | 300/447 (67.1) | 68.1 |
| Soft Santear | 353/735 (48.0) | 301/533 (56.5) | 450/547 (82.3) | 349/547 (63.8) | 226/336 (67.3) | 338/443 (76.3) | 65.6 |
| Hyalein | 524/676 (77.5) | 522/699 (74.8) | 393/421 (93.3) | 410/569 (72.1) | 449/506 (88.7) | 449/521 (86.2) | 81.9 |
| Maltose 200 mM | 295/823 (35.8) | 472/769 (61.4) | 305/875 (34.9) | 144/487 (29.6) | 270/530 (50.9) | 422/529 (79.8) | 43.4 |
| Maltose 100 mM | 448/1019 (44.0) | 475/861 (55.7) | 323/658 (49.1) | 196/237 (82.7) | 342/413 (82.8) | 352/572 (61.5) | 58.6 |
| Maltose 50 mM | 304/594 (51.2) | 495/659 (75.1) | 356/537 (66.3) | 257/352 (73.0) | 286/314 (91.1) | 433/567 (76.4) | 74.1 |
| Maltose 20 mM | 487/1019 (47.8) | 588/982 (59.9) | 279/461 (60.5) | 231/321 (72.0) | 385/571 (67.4) | 292/408 (71.6) | 64.0 |
| Maltose 2 mM | 343/783 (43.8) | 324/673 (48.1) | 279/451 (61.9) | 244/377 (64.7) | 497/669 (74.3) | 287/507 (56.9) | 59.4 |
| Trehalose 200 mM | 37/1244 (0.03) | 58/813 ( 0.1) | 112/921 (12.2) | 82/650 (12.6) | 84/527 (15.9) | 67/577 (11.6) | 11.9 |
| Trehalose 100 mM | 263/1024 (25.7) | 86/736 (11.7) | 136/824 (16.5) | 13/429 (26.3) | 115/713 (21.7) | 51/399 (12.8) | 19.1 |
| Trehalose 50 mM | 205/959 (21.4) | 254/916 (27.7) | 415/1113 (37.3) | 167/895 (18.7) | 155/1028 (15.1) | 120/729 (15.2) | 20.1 |
| Trehalose 20 mM | 341/971 (35.1) | 329/788 (41.8) | 450/741 (60.7) | 332/440 (75.5) | 327/501 (65.3) | 367/663 (55.4) | 58.1 |
| Trehalose 2 mM | 473/964 (49.1) | 469/754 (62.2) | 498/690 (72.2) | 264/420 (62.9) | 308/394 (78.2) | 291/528 (55.1) | 62.6 |
The preincubation with 50 mM, 100 mM, and 200 mM trehalose leads to significantly better survival of cells, compared with trehalose at the concentration of 20 mM or lower, maltose at any concentrations, phosphate buffered saline (PBS), and commercially available tear substitutes (Mytear, Soft Santear, and Hyalein). p<0.0001, Kruskal-Wallis test; p<0.05, Tukey-Kramer test.