Corneal Endothelium of the Magellanic Penguin (Spheniscus Magellanicus) by Scanning Electron Microscopy

Abstract

The corneal endothelium is essential for the maintenance of the corneal transparency. The aim of this study was to examine the morphology of the endothelial surface and perform morphometric analysis of the normal corneal endothelial cells of the Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus) using scanning electron microscopy. The present work demonstrates that the corneal endothelium of the Magellanic penguin is similar to those described in other vertebrates.

Morphology of endothelial cells from different regions of the equine cornea

“…In the current study, there was no significant difference between the right and left eyes. There was no difference in relation to endothelial parameters obtained between fellow eyes of the same individual (MORITA, 1985;ANDREW et al, 2001;PIGATTO et al, 2004;PIGATTO et al, 2005b;PIGATTO et al, 2008;PIGATTO et al, 2009;FRANZEN et al, 2010).…”

“…The high cost of specular microscopes and the difficulty in obtaining good images in injured endothelial areas are common challenges or barriers to the use of this technique (ANDREW et al, 2001;PIGATTO et al, 2005a;SAAD et al, 2008). SEM has been widely used to compare the endothelial ultrastructure of vertebrates and to evaluate the effects of medications, chemicals, or surgical procedures on the endothelium (COLLIN & COLLIN, 1998;PIGATTO et al, 2004;PIGATTO et al, 2005a;PIGATTO et al, 2005b;PIGATTO et al, 2009). Changes in endothelial cell dimensions can occur as a result of processing the cornea for SEM and the data obtained with regard to endothelial cell density cannot be compared with those obtained using specular microscopy (SCHUTTEN & VAN HORN , 1980).…”

“…Endothelial parameters that can be quantified principally included mean cell area, cell density, polymegathism and pleomorphism (PIGATTO et al, 2004;PIGATTO et al, 2005b;SELIG et al, 2015). Pleomorphism is the variation in cell shape represented by the percentage of hexagonal cells (LAING et al, 1979).…”

“…Pleomorphism is the variation in cell shape represented by the percentage of hexagonal cells (LAING et al, 1979). Principal among the techniques used to study the corneal endothelium are specular microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) (PIGATTO et al, 2005a, PIGATTO et al, 2005bMcCAREY et al, 2008). Aside from these techniques, the analysis of the corneal endothelium using optical microscopy after cell staining with alizarin red has also been used (RODRIGUES et al, 2009 morphometric and morphological endothelial cell studies provided reference information for the investigation of clinical diseases, such as uveitis, glaucoma, and the effects of aging on different regions of the cornea.…”

Morphological analysis of the corneal endothelium in eyes of dogs using specular microscopy

“…Changes in endothelial cell dimensions can occur as a result of processing cornea for scanning electron microscopy (Schutten & Van Horn 1980). In spite of this limitation, the scanning electron microscopy has been widely used to compare the endothelial ultrastructure of vertebrates, and to evaluate the effects of medications, chemicals or surgical procedures on the endothelium (Collin & Collin 1998, Pigatto et al 2004, Pigatto et al 2005.…”