AUTHOR=Lemos Camila Nunes , Silva Lilian Eslaine Costa Mendes da , Faustino Jacqueline Ferreira , Fantucci Marina Zilio , Murashima Adriana de Andrade Batista , Adriano Leidiane , Alves Monica , Rocha Eduardo Melani TITLE=Oxidative Stress in the Protection and Injury of the Lacrimal Gland and the Ocular Surface: are There Perspectives for Therapeutics? JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology VOLUME=10 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cell-and-developmental-biology/articles/10.3389/fcell.2022.824726 DOI=10.3389/fcell.2022.824726 ISSN=2296-634X ABSTRACT=

Oxidative stress (OS) is a major disruption in the physiology of the lacrimal functional unit (LFU). Antioxidant enzymes have dual protective activities: antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. Peroxidases have been indistinctly used as markers of the secretory activity of the LFU and implicated in the pathophysiology, diagnosis and treatment of dry eye disease (DED), even though they comprise a large family of enzymes that includes lactoperoxidase (LPO) and glutathione peroxidase (GPO), among others. Assays to measure and correlate OS with other local LFU phenomena have methodological limitations. Studies implicate molecules and reactions involved in OS as markers of homeostasis, and other studies identify them as part of the physiopathology of diseases. Despite these conflicting concepts and observations, it is clear that OS is influential in the development of DED. Moreover, many antioxidant strategies have been proposed for its treatment, including calorie restriction to nutritional supplementation. This review offers a critical analysis of the biological mechanisms, diagnostic outcomes, drug use, dietary supplements, and life habits that implicate the influence of OS on DED.