SUMMARY

Myeloperoxidade activity in experimental keratitis (Guinea Pigs) was studied. Staphylococcus aureus strain DU 5723 without Protein A nor Delta-toxin (Group A), purified Protein A (SIGMA) (Group B), and vehicle were injected within corneal stroma, with a final volume of 10 µl. Levels of myeloperoxidase activity after 25 hours were measured by spectrophotometric method and the tissue damage was determined by biomicroscopic analysis. These results suggest that purified Protein A and S. aureus without Protein A nor Delta-toxin induces high leveis of tissue damage and both inocula may be mediators of keratitis.