Comparison of mice from two different vendors for dry eye disease mouse model

Aims/Purpose: The purpose of the study was to compare corneal surface damage at baseline and 20 days after induction of dry eye disease (DED) in mice from two different vendors: Janvier Labs, France, and The Jackson Laboratory, USA. Methods: 120 C57BL/6JRj female mice (Janvier Labs, Saint‐Berthevin, France) and 120 C57BL/6J female mice (The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME USA) were received at our facility and corneal fluorescein staining (CFS) was performed to evaluate corneal surface damage at baseline. 40 mice with CFS score ranging from 0‐2 were selected for DED study. DED was induced in 8‐week‐old mice by administering scopolamine (500 μg/mouse/dose) subcutaneously three times per day for 20 days. Mice were housed in the dry eye inducing chamber (DEIC, 12l/min airflow and 13 % humidity on average). Mice were treated topically with Ikervis® or phosphate‐buffered saline (PBS) twice daily (5 μl/eye). Corneal surface damage was assessed using CFS on day 13 and day 20, and with rose bengal staining (RBS) on day 21. Results: The baseline CFS score (median of 2) did not differ in mice from Janvier and Jackson. DED was successfully induced in mice from both vendors. However, Janvier mice developed more severe corneal damage on day 13 (median score 3 vs 2, respectively; p