Cell Division in the Healing of the Corneal Endothelium of Cats

Effect of corticosteroids on healing of the corneal endothelium in cats

“…However, the process of regeneration of the corneal endothelium in rabbits differs from that in mammals that are phylogenetically higher, including humans [6, 10,19,22,23,26,32,35,36,39]. In order to determine the effect of corticosteroids in animals whose corneal endothelium does not regenerate spontaneously by cell division, the present experiments were performed on cats, in which, as in humans, corneal re-endothelialization occurs mostly through cell enlargement and not through mitosis [20]. Following identical trauma to the In a previous study, which correlated the functional ability and the morphology of regenerating feline corneal endothelial cells, we demonstrated that the appearance of large numbers of giant (3000-4000 btm a) nonhexagonal cells induced decompensation of the dehydrating function of the endothelium [19].…”

“…Little information is available on the effects of corticosteroids on the damaged corneal endothelium in other species. In humans, nonhuman primates, cats and other mammals, the corneal endothelium does not regenerate completely by mitosis but instead covers the denuded corneal surface mostly by cell enlargement [10,19,20,22,23,32,35].…”

Preservation of canine and feline corneoscleral tissue in Optisol® GS

“…In addition, a decrease in cell density, accompanied by cell hypertrophy was observed, which indicated that individual cells had died and been eliminated. Other researchers have also observed compensatory cell hypertrophy, which corrects defects in the endothelial layer of stored feline corneoscleral tissue 7–9 …”

“…The corneal epithelium has a remarkable capacity for regeneration and heals in approximately 7 days. In contrast, the endothelium in a mature cornea has very low mitotic activity 6,7 and responds to trauma primarily by cellular hypertrophy and migration 8,9 …”

“…In contrast, the endothelium in a mature cornea has very low mitotic activity 6,7 and responds to trauma primarily by cellular hypertrophy and migration. 8,9 The morphology of the corneal endothelium is not only affected by trauma but also by ageing. 10 In people over 50 years of age, the endothelial cells are not consistently hexagonal in shape, but rather pleomorphic, so that both small and large cells occur.…”