Morphological changes in the cornea of experimental animals after corneal collagen cross-linking
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Corneal Ultraviolet Cross-Linking (CXL) is a recognized method for stabilizing progressive keratoconus. Despite its proven clinical efficacy, the fundamental aspects of how CXL affects corneal morphology at the ultrastructural level require further study. Purpose. A comprehensive electron microscopic study of morphological changes i n the rabbit cornea after CXL. Material and methods. Experiments were performed on 16 corneas (8 rabbits) divided into 2 groups: the left eyes of the animals remained intact (group 1), while the right eyes were experimental (group 2) and underwent CXL with de-epithelialization and instillations of DEXTRAALINK solution. Ultraviolet irradiation of the cornea (3 mW/cm² for 30 minutes) was performed using a «UVALINK» device at λ=370 nm. The observation period was 14 days. Material for histological and electron microscopic examination was prepared according to the standard method. Results. The following morphological changes were revealed in the corneas of the experimental group: restoration of the removed epithelium, corneal stromal edema accompanied by separation of corneal lamellae, on the one hand, the death of part of the keratocytes and signs of minor leukocyte infiltration, on the other hand, signs of activation of the synthetic activity of intact keratocytes were noted in the cells. In all samples of the rabbit corneas, no significant changes were observed in the layer of endothelial cells. Conclusion. The absence of pronounced pathological changes at the ultrastructural level, including in the endothelial cells, confirms the safety of the C XL protocol used. Keywords: corneal collagen cross-linking, morphological studies of the corne a, ultrastructural analysis of the cornea
Source: POINT OF VIEW EAST – WEST
Institutions: Bashkir State Medical University, Ufa Eye Research Institute
Language: English
Subfield: Ophthalmology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
Funder: Russian Science Foundation
OpenAlex ID: W7127090657