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Abstract
The use of nitroblue tetrazolium to stain corneal dehydrogenase enzymes indicates several things:
An enzyme profile of a given group of cells may be a mirror of the normality of the cells and may be a guide to the viability of tissue.
When a central button of rabbit cornea is killed by freezing, the healing tissue has a higher concentration of oxidative enzymes than the normal cornea. Healing is a process which requires oxidative energy.
In the normal cornea the oxidative enzymes appear more concentrated, in the superficial third, of the corneal stroma. This suggests that the enzyme concentration and the metabolism may depend on the availability of oxygen from the air.
When one eye of a rabbit is sutured shut, after 48 to 72 hours the concentrations of DPN and. TPN diaphorase, lactic, alpha glycerophosphate, malic dehydrogenases, and probably succinic dehydrogenase, decrease.