Assessment of the tear film in normal eye subjects after consumption of a single dose of hot peppermint drink

Ali M Masmali, Saud A Alanazi, Bader Almagren, Gamal A El-HitiCornea Research Chair, Department of Optometry, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh 11433, Saudi ArabiaObjective: To test the effect of a single dose of hot peppermint consumption on the tear film in normal eye subjects.Methods: Thirty healthy male subjects aged 18–39 years (23.20±2.17 years) were enrolled. Also, an age-matched control group of 30 male subjects (19–39 years, 23.50±0.70 years) was enrolled to test the effect of the hot water. Tear meniscus height (TMH), noninvasive tear breakup time (NITBUT), and tear ferning (TF) tests were performed for each patient 30 mins before and 60 mins after they drank hot peppermint.Results: Mean TMH measurements were higher postintervention (0.32±0.07) than preintervention (0.27±0.04 mm). Similarly, mean TF grades were significantly higher (2.07±1.20) postintervention than preintervention (0.84±0.71). By contrast, mean NITBUT was lower postintervention than preintervention (11.57±3.17 and 15.84±3.36, respectively). TMH measurements increased in 90% of the subjects. Conversely, NITBUT decreased in 96.7% of the subjects. For the control group that tests the effect of drinking hot water, the scores did not differ significantly in the three tests pre- and postintervention (P˂0.05). TF grades increased in 93.3% of the subjects, postintervention.Conclusion: Tear film quality decreases significantly after peppermint beverage consumption. A similar observation has been made on the consumption of hot green tea drink.Keywords: peppermint drink, tear film, tear ferning test, phenol red thread test, eye dryness, polyphenol