June 2023
Volume 64, Issue 8
Open Access
ARVO Annual Meeting Abstract  |   June 2023
Rose Bengal Penetration Depth with Iontophoresis in Human Cornea Tissue
Author Affiliations & Notes
  • Justin Chen
    Ophthalmic Biophysics Center, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Miami Health System Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miami, Florida, United States
  • James Lai
    Ophthalmic Biophysics Center, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Miami Health System Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miami, Florida, United States
  • Juan Carlos Navia Velasquez
    Ophthalmic Biophysics Center, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Miami Health System Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miami, Florida, United States
  • Heather Ann Durkee
    Ophthalmic Biophysics Center, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Miami Health System Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miami, Florida, United States
  • Alex Gonzalez
    Ophthalmic Biophysics Center, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Miami Health System Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miami, Florida, United States
  • Timothy Arcari
    Ophthalmic Biophysics Center, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Miami Health System Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miami, Florida, United States
  • Cornelis Rowaan
    Ophthalmic Biophysics Center, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Miami Health System Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miami, Florida, United States
  • Katrina Llanes
    Florida Lions Eye Bank, Miami, Florida, United States
    Anne Bates Leach Eye Center, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Miami Health System Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miami, Florida, United States
  • Jaime Martinez
    Anne Bates Leach Eye Center, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Miami Health System Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miami, Florida, United States
  • Guillermo Amescua
    Anne Bates Leach Eye Center, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Miami Health System Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miami, Florida, United States
  • Noel Marysa Ziebarth
    Ophthalmic Biophysics Center, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Miami Health System Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miami, Florida, United States
    Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, United States
  • Jean-Marie Parel
    Ophthalmic Biophysics Center, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Miami Health System Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miami, Florida, United States
    Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, United States
  • Footnotes
    Commercial Relationships   Justin Chen None; James Lai None; Juan Carlos Navia Velasquez None; Heather Durkee None; Alex Gonzalez None; Timothy Arcari None; Cornelis Rowaan None; Katrina Llanes None; Jaime Martinez None; Guillermo Amescua None; Noel Ziebarth None; Jean-Marie Parel None
  • Footnotes
    Support  This work was financially supported in part by the Florida Lions Eye Bank and the Beauty of Sight Foundation, the Edward D. and Janet K. Robson Foundation, NIH Center Grant (P30EY14801), Research to Prevent Blindness – Unrestricted Grant to BPEI (GR004596), the Henri and Flore Lesieur Foundation (JMP), and donations from Drs. Harry W. Flynn Jr, Karl R. Olsen, Martha E. Hildebrandt, Raksha Urs, Aaron Furtado.
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science June 2023, Vol.64, 4027. doi:
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    • Get Citation

      Justin Chen, James Lai, Juan Carlos Navia Velasquez, Heather Ann Durkee, Alex Gonzalez, Timothy Arcari, Cornelis Rowaan, Katrina Llanes, Jaime Martinez, Guillermo Amescua, Noel Marysa Ziebarth, Jean-Marie Parel; Rose Bengal Penetration Depth with Iontophoresis in Human Cornea Tissue. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2023;64(8):4027.

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      © ARVO (1962-2015); The Authors (2016-present)

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Abstract

Purpose : Rose bengal photodynamic antimicrobial therapy (RB-PDAT) is a novel treatment against superficial infectious keratitis; however, efficacy for infections deep in the cornea is limited by rose bengal’s penetration into the stroma. Iontophoresis is a non-invasive procedure that improves corneal permeation of charged topical ophthalmic pharmacologic agents by electrorepulsion and electroosmosis. By using RB disodium’s negatively charged properties, this study investigated the effects of iontophoresis on the corneal penetration of RB in ex vivo human corneas.

Methods : Corneal epitheliums of human donor eyes (n=11) were surgically removed. Five eyes were subjected to 0.1% RB with iontophoresis at 2500 μA for 15 minutes. Three eyes were soaked with 0.1% RB disodium epithelial side down without iontophoresis for 30 minutes. Three eyes were soaked in NaCl under identical conditions as controls. After treatment, the corneal tissues were harvested, and the endothelium of all corneas were stained with DAPI for one hour. Corneas were then imaged with confocal microscopy. Z-stacks were analyzed to find the cornea thickness and maximum RB penetration depth. All experiments were performed on eyes with intact stromas.

Results : The average corneal thickness of the eyes treated with iontophoresis, soak, and control were 460±78μm, 426±69μm and 498±50μm respectively. There were no significant differences found in the corneal thicknesses between the eyes that underwent iontophoresis and soak (p=0.935). The average corneal penetration of RB of the eyes that underwent with iontophoresis and soak were 177±9.5μm and 100±5.7μm, respectively. A significant difference was found in the penetration depth of RB between the two treatment groups (p < 0.001). No rose bengal signal was detected among the control group, as expected.

Conclusions : Corneal penetration of RB disodium is significantly improved by utilizing iontophoresis. These findings support the investigation of combining RB-PDAT with iontophoresis as a novel therapy for deep infectious keratitis that fail to be treated by conventional topical agents alone. However, further studies would be needed to confirm this inference.

This abstract was presented at the 2023 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in New Orleans, LA, April 23-27, 2023.

 

Figure 1: Average Corneal Thickness and RB Penetration Depth of Iontophoresis (n=5) and Soak (n=3).

Figure 1: Average Corneal Thickness and RB Penetration Depth of Iontophoresis (n=5) and Soak (n=3).

 

Figure 2: Z-stack of Soak (left) and Iontophoresis (right) treated corneas. Blue signal is DAPI and indicates corneal thickness, green signal is RB.

Figure 2: Z-stack of Soak (left) and Iontophoresis (right) treated corneas. Blue signal is DAPI and indicates corneal thickness, green signal is RB.

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