Abstract
Purpose :
To regress pathological corneal lymphatic and blood vessels is an unmet and crucial request in the clinic, which is critical for promotion of allograft survival in high-risk keratoplasty, as (lymph)angiogenesis is a known risk factor for immune-mediated allograft rejection. UV-light corneal crosslinking (CXL) and fine needle-diathermy (FND) show promising possibilities to regress pathological corneal vessels. The aim of this study is to compare the effect of isolated CXL/FND versus the combined treatment on pathological corneal lymphatic and blood vessels.
Methods :
Suture-induced inflammatory corneal neovascularization was utilized in female BALB/c mice to induce spontaneous combined ingrowth of corneal blood and lymphatic vessels. The corneal pre-vascularized mice in the treatment group received either CXL or FND or a combination of both treatments. The corneas were excised after treatment and were double stained with CD31 and LYVE-1 to assess the effect of different the treatments on corneal pathological vessels. Eye balls were harvested post treatment for morphological analysis to evaluate the effect of CXL and FND on the corneal tissue.
Results :
Combination therapy of CXL and FND significantly regressed pathological corneal lymphatic and blood vessels compared to the controls, as well as isolated treatment with CXL and FND in shorter time periods after treatment (n=5; p<0.05). In longer time periods after treatment, corneal pathological blood vessels were significantly reduced in combination therapy treatment group and FND treated mice (n=5; p<0.001), but not in CXL treated group. Corneal pathological lymphatic vessels were significantly decreased in all three treated groups compared to controls in longer time periods (n=5; p<0.05). No notable effects on corneal nonvascular endothelial cells were observed after combination therapy of CXL and FND comparing with naïve eyes.
Conclusions :
A combination therapy of CXL and FND is effective to regress both pre-existing corneal pathological lymphatic and blood vessels without disturbing corneal nonvascular endothelial cells. In addition, this study showes for the first time that combination therapy is more effective to induce long-lasting regression of corneal blood vessels compared to isolated CXL treatment in pre-vascularized eyes, which may be a promising novel therapy for the clinic.
This abstract was presented at the 2019 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Vancouver, Canada, April 28 - May 2, 2019.