Abstract
Purpose:
Corneal stromal diseases causing severe visual loss can be treated by allogeneic corneal transplantation. However, there remains many problems such as immune rejection and the shortage of donor corneas. We investigated the efficacy of a novel bioengineered corneal stroma fabricated by a new biocompatible cross linker in rabbit corneal stromal disease model.
Methods:
To create rabbit corneal stromal opacity model, a circular horizontal lamellar dissection (3.0-mm diameter) was created at one-half cornea depth using femtosecond laser (FSL) and trypan blue was injected into the stroma (n=8). For treatment, corneal opacification was removed and corneal stromal pocket was created by a 5.0-mm cylindrical dissection (100-μm height) via FSL. In 4 rabbits, biocompatible cross linker and type 1 collagen were injected into the corneal stromal pocket. In 4 control eyes, nothing was injected. Corneal stromal reconstruction was assessed and histological examination was performed 1 week after injection.
Results:
The corneal stroma was successfully reconstructed with restoration of transparency in the injected eyes. The average corneal thickness in the treated eyes at preoperative day and postoperative day 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7 were 370, 295, 274, 294, 299 and 280-μm, respectively. Those in the control eyes were 357, 247, 240, 248, 264 and 241-μm, respectively. The reconstructed corneas were significantly thicker than those in the control eyes on each postoperative day (p<0.01, t-test with Bonferroni correction), although there was no significant difference preoperatively in 2 groups. Artificial corneal stromal layer was observed in the treated eyes with histological examination. No inflammation was found in the treated corneal stroma by immunohistochemistry.
Conclusions:
Our bioengineered corneal stroma fabricated by a new biocompatible cross linker was effective for the treatment of rabbit corneal stromal disease model.
Keywords: 687 regeneration •
484 cornea: stroma and keratocytes •
578 laser