Model
Digital Document
Publisher
Florida Atlantic University
Description
Tear lipocalin (TL) (~18kDa), is one of the major proteins in rabbit lacrimal fluid. The aim was to study the regulation of tear lipocalin by sex hormones. Results indicate that sexually mature female rabbits have a significantly higher expression of TL than sexually mature male rabbits. TL expression was higher in sexually mature rabbits than the juvenile rabbits. No significant difference was seen among the juvenile female and male rabbits. Rabbits were also sham operated, ovariectomized and ovariectomized followed by either estrogen or androgen treatment. Androgen treated rabbits expressed significantly higher amounts of TL when compared to the other groups. This study also focused on sex hormone regulation of the gelatinases MMP-2 and MMP-9. All four treated groups expressed MMP-2, but the estrogen treated rabbit showed the highest expression; however, only the estrogen treated rabbit expressed MMP-9 and no expression was seen in the other three groups.
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