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Presentation preference	Oral presentation
Title	Ocular safety of subconjunctival injection of Tacrolimus in rabbits
Accept poster if oral is not possible ?	Yes

Purpose	To evaluate the safety of subconjunctival injection of tacrolimus in rabbit eyes.
Methods	Ten white New Zealand rabbits were included. A concentration of tacrolimus 0.03% was prepared for subconjunctival injection. Tacrolimus 0.03% was compounded by adding water for injection solution to 1,000 µg tacrolimus capsule (Prograf; Astellas Pharma Inc., Tokyo, Japan) to achieve 0.03% concentration. Tacrolimus 0.03% was injected into one eye of each rabbit and water for injection solution was injected into the contralateral eye. All rabbits underwent ocular examination in the 1st, 3rd, and 30th day after injection. The following parameters were evaluated: tearing, hyperaemia, conjunctival chemosis, and scleral necrosis/discoloration. The rabbits were sacrificed 30 days after injections and histopathological examination was performed on enucleated eyes.
Results	No tearing or scleral necrosis/discoloration was observed in either group. In the tacrolimus-injected eyes, conjunctival hyperemia and chemosis were minimal compared to the water-injected control eyes, where severe hyperemia was noted initially but improved over time. Histopathological examination revealed less lymphocytic infiltration and better-preserved scleral and corneal structures in the tacrolimus group.
Conclusion	Subconjunctival tacrolimus demonstrated a promising safety profile. No serious adverse events were noted clinically or pathologically.
Conflict of interest	No