title: A reproducible method for injecting the mouse corneal stroma.
abstract: An improved delivery system for injecting the mouse corneal stroma was developed. This system incorporates the following features: a repeating dispenser that eliminates inaccuracies in depressing a syringe plunger, foot activation which frees both hands for manipulating the needle and permits constant observation of the injection site, and a flexible 30-cm, 32-gauge stainless steel needle with a 30 degrees bevel and a locking hub that resists pulsation due to back pressure while permitting freedom of motion by the operator. These injections were done while observing the cornea with a vertically mounted slit lamp, ideally suited for examining and photographing the eyes of laboratory animals. The reproducibility of the new delivery system, expressed in terms of the signal-to-noise ratio, was estimated and compared with that of a hand-held microsyringe by injecting a solution of radioactive chromium into the corneal stroma of A/J mice. The eyes were removed within 1 hr of injection, and the amount of chromium in each eye was determined in a gamma counter. The new delivery system had significantly (P less than 0.05) greater reproducibility than the hand-held syringe and could be calibrated to deliver up to 0.65 microliter to the mouse cornea.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University of Illinois, Chicago 60612.
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Hendricks
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Epstein
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Viana
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002860:Chromium Radioisotopes / Q000008:administration & dosage; D003315:Cornea / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D007267:Injections / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D051379:Mice; D008805:Mice, Inbred A; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013594:Syringes
chemical_list: D002860:Chromium Radioisotopes