The behaviour of corneal epithelium following a standardized alkali wound

Abstract

The short and long-term healing of the rabbit corneal epithelium was studied after a standardized alkali wound. The wound was inflicted by applying a round filter paper, 5.5 mm in diameter, soaked in 1 N NaOH, for 60 seconds on the central cornea. The wound size and intensity was chosen not to cause melting and perforation, and not to cause vascular ingrowth. n-Heptanol corneal wounds of the same size were used as control. The eyes were followed for 8 weeks. Two phases of epithelial healing were discerned. The initial healing phase lasted 48 h during which the would was completely resurfaced. In spite of the more extensive tissue damage caused by alkali, the initial epithelial healing rate was faster than in n-heptanol wounds. The late healing phase consisted of recurrent epithelial break down, sometimes seen preceded by epithelial blister formation. Four weeks after trauma the state of epithelial healing was at its worst.

Galectin-3 enhances extracellular matrix associations and wound healing in monkey corneal epithelium

“…Previous reports also showed differences in corneal healing rates depending on the agent or depth of wound. For example, an in vivo rabbit study showed that spontaneous healing rate between 6 and 30 hrs after alkali was faster than that in corneas wounded with n-heptanol (Chung et al, 1987). After trans-corneal freezing, the healing rate in diabetic rabbits (no basement membrane) during first 27 hrs was faster than that in non-diabetic rabbits (with basement membrane).…”

Effects of conditioned media from human amniotic epithelial cells on corneal alkali injuries in rabbits

“…Additionally, injuries were induced in the present study with corneal vacuum trephines rather than disks of filter paper as previously used by many researchers [3,4,15,17,21,22]. The reason for this was because the lesions inflicted with the trephines had clearer margins and precisely rounded areas than ones induced by the disks.…”

“…Although the epithelium of alkali-injured corneas heals and covers the wound within 48 h, it always breaks down after the initial healing process [3]. These recurrent epithelial defects tend to consistently increase in size and persist indefinitely [19].…”

“…Because corneal epithelial cells seemed to have sufficient regeneration and migration capacities for re-epithelialization even without therapeutic intervention [2,3], comparison of the initial healing rate is not very meaningful. Instead, it is more informative to evaluate the degree of recurrent epithelial injury after the initial healing period because the epithelium always subsequently breaks down in alkali-injured corneas [3].…”

Corneal Epithelial Wound Healing Promoted by Verbascoside-Based Liposomal Eyedrops

“…Hares eyes were anesthetized topically with two drops of proparacaine hydrochloride (Alcon Laboratories, Ft. Worth, TX). One eye of each animal received a corneal burn by pipetting 0.5 mL of 2 N NaOH [21]. External examinations of each hares cornea were performed daily.…”