Abstract
Purpose :
To determine the corneal changes after usage of preservative free (PF) latanoprost (Monoprost®) along different periods of time.
Methods :
Male white Japanese rabbits (KBT Oriental, Tosu, Japan) were used in this study. We divided the animals into 6 groups: Three groups for PF latanoprost exposure corneas (immediately after PF latanoprost exposure, after 24 hour of exposure, after one week of daily exposure) and three groups as control groups with Hank’s Balanced Salt Solution (HBSS) exposure. All groups (PF latanoprost and control groups) were examined with corneal transepithelial electrical resistance (TER), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) examinations.
Results :
There were no significant changes in the corneal TER after exposure of the cornea to PF latanoprost in all groups (immediately after PF latanoprost exposure, after 24 hour of exposure, after one week of daily exposure) as compared to control groups. In all groups of PF latanoprost exposure and control groups, the superficial cells of the corneal epithelium were normal in appearance with normal microvilli and normal adhesions between cells by SEM examination. Also, all superficial corneal epithelial cells showed normal tight junctions between each other and normal appearance of microvilli in all groups of PF latanoprost exposure and control groups with TEM examination.
Conclusions :
PF latanoprost (Monoprost®) is safe to the corneal epithelium along different periods of exposure. To our knowledge, this is the first electron microscopic study to prove safety of Monoprost® on corneal epithelium.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2017 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017.