Abstract
Objective: To compare basal and reflex tear osmolarity in healthy dogs and to evaluate for correlation among tear film osmolarity, tear production, and tear fern pattern. Animals studied: The population consisted of 22 healthy adult dogs. Procedures: Reflex tear osmolarity was measured in both eyes using the I-PEN® VET osmometer 30 minutes following the Schirmer tear test (STT-1) measurement. Subsequently, two minutes following topical anesthetic application, the lacrimal lake and conjunctival fornices were dried, and 3 minutes later, basal tear osmolarity was measured. Tears were extracted from the dye-free STT-1 strip by centrifugation, placed on a glass slide, and the ferning pattern was determined by light microscopy. Comparisons between basal and reflex tears were performed with one-way ANOVA. Correlations between tear osmolarity, STT-1, and tear ferning were verified by Pearson's correlation coefficient. Results: No statistical difference was found between right and left eyes for STT-1, tear fern pattern, and osmolarity of reflex or basal tears (P <.05). There was no statistical difference between osmolarity of basal and reflex tears among individuals (P <.05). No correlation was detected between tear fern pattern and osmolarity of reflex tears. A weak positive correlation was detected between STT-1 values and osmolarity of reflex, but not basal tears. Conclusions: The osmolarity of basal tears did not differ from that of reflex tears. A positive weak correlation exists between tear production and osmolarity of reflex tears. No correlation was detected between tear osmolarity measured by handheld osmometer and tear ferning.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 747-753 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Veterinary Ophthalmology |
Volume | 23 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jul 1 2020 |
Keywords
- I-PEN VET
- basal tears
- dog
- osmolarity
- reflex tears
- tear film
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Veterinary