Abstract
Purpose :
As therapies available to treat and heal ocular surface injuries and periocular burns are frequently inadequate, costly, and labor intensive, a flexible semi-transparent ocular wound chamber device has been developed to protect the ocular surface during periocular burn treatment, enhance the treatment of ocular infections, and promote the healing of periocular skin grafts. Our purpose is to test the hypothesis that this ocular wound chamber can be successfully and safely utilized in a guinea pig model to collect the pre-clinical data required to transition this technology.
Methods :
Excess hair surrounding the left eye of anesthetized Institute Armand Frappier (IAF) hairless, female guinea pigs (Crl:HA-Hrhr) was removed using Nair™ (30 s). During hair removal, eyes were protected with Refresh® Lacri-Lube®. Post hair removal and cleaning of the skin with 70% EtOH, guinea pigs were fitted with the ocular wound chamber. Animals were randomly grouped (N=4 per group) and 0.5 ml of GenTeal® gel or balanced saline solution (BSS) was injected into the chamber. The left (OS) treatment eye and right (OD) control eye were assessed at 0, 24, and 72 h post chamber placement utilizing intraocular pressure (IOP) and pachymetry measurements as well as slit lamp, white light, fluorescein, and OCT imaging. Corneal and eyelid skin histology was performed using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining. Histological sections were scored by a board certified pathologist.
Results :
IOP measurements revealed an average IOP of 10 ± 2 mmHg. The average corneal thickness was 200 ± 25 μm. No significant differences were found between the IOP, corneal thickness, slit lamp imaging, fluorescein staining, or OCT imaging in either treatment group (GenTeal® or BSS) when compared to control eyes. Histological scores totals for the cornea (GenTeal®: 0.3, BSS: 0, Control: 0) and eyelids (GenTeal®: 3.0, BSS: 2.6, Control: 1.2) revealed no pathological differences between treatment groups and controls.
Conclusions :
This biocompatible wound chamber can be safely and effectively used with GenTeal® or BSS in our guinea pig model without adverse effects on the ocular or periocular tissue. These results advance the overall efforts to develop this ocular wound chamber for the treatment of ocular surface injuries and periocular burns. Future studies aim to treat ocular injuries and infections while allowing the periorbital skin to heal.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2017 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017.