الفهرس 
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Abstract
Introduction: Nowadays interest in aging has greatly increased. Aging is a complex natural process involving every molecule, cell, and organ in the body, that is associated with tissue dysfunction in many organs. Aging of the cornea causes major eye effects and leads to substantial cost in medical and social terms. These effects include the highly prevalent dry eye disease (DED) that affects both visual function and quality of life in elderly. Symptoms of (DED) include, ocular pain, visual disturbances, and increase lacrimation. Functional foods such as Royal jelly (RJ) have a growing attention because of consumers increasing concerns about their health. Its importance not only for its nutritional properties but also for its functional and biological properties such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antiviral, and anti-ulcerous activities. It is used as a cheap natural source in daily life and medicine. (RJ) is a complex substance composed of proteins, sugars, lipids, amino acids, vitamins, and minerals. Aim: The present study aimed to investigate the histological effect of aging on the cornea of male albino rat and possible therapeutic role of (RJ) on senile group. Materials and methods: Twenty-four male albino rats were used in this study divided into group I: consisted of 6 adult male rats aged 3- 6 months. group II: consisted of 18 senile male rats aged 18-24 months, were further subdivided into three subgroups as follows: group IIA: (n=6) negative control senile rats, not subjected to any procedure for 4 weeks. group IIB: (n=6) control senile rats and were given distilled water 1.5ml by oral gavage once daily for 4 weeks. group IIC: (n=6) senile rats were given (RJ) dissolved in distilled water in a dose of 300/kg/day by oral gavage once daily for 4 weeks. At the end of the experiment, rats were sacrificed after being deeply anesthetized with ether according to the protocol of the Committee of Animal Research Ethics (CARE). The cornea of each rat was carefully dissected out and immediately fixed in 10% formalin for preparation of paraffin blocks 5 micrometer thickness. Sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E), Masson’s trichrome and periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) counterstaining with hematoxylin. Statistical analysis and quantitative morphometric study were done. Results: Light microscopic examination of corneas of senile rats revealed different pathological changes included irregularity in the surface epithelium as well as surface erosions and cytoplasmic vacuolations . The stroma showed widely separated collagen fibers with decreased keratocyte and endothelial cell count. It was concluded that (RJ) supplementation to senile rats obviously improved all layers of the cornea histologically.