title: Suppression of corneal allograft rejection by systemic cyclosporine-A in heavily vascularized rabbit corneas following alkali burns.
abstract: Immunologic rejection is the main cause of corneal graft failure, especially in vascularized corneal beds. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of systemic Cyclosporine-A (CsA) on the survival of corneal allografts in heavily vascularized rabbit corneal beds, following alkali burn. Heavy corneal vascularization was induced in one eye of 20 rabbits by alkali burn. Forty-five days later, penetrating keratoplasty was performed in all the heavily vascularized corneas. Twenty-five mg/kg/day of CsA was intramuscularly administered to 10 rabbits for 30 days. The other 10 rabbits were treated with the solvent without CsA and were used as a matched control group. The results show a significant difference in corneal allograft survival between the two groups. All corneal grafts in the untreated group were intensely rejected and vascularized within 3 weeks. Nine of the 10 corneal transplants, in the CsA-treated group, remained transparent without signs of immunologic rejection for > 180 days. In one corneal transplant, minor signs of rejection occurred. We suggest that CsA, when given systemically, is a potent drug in the prevention of immunologic rejection in high-risk corneal transplantations, such as allografts, in heavily vascularized corneas following alkali burn.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology Western Galilee Regional Medical Center, Nahariya, Israel.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Rehany
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Waisman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002057:Burns, Chemical / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000601:surgery*; D003315:Cornea / Q000601:surgery; D065306:Corneal Injuries; D016510:Corneal Neovascularization / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000601:surgery*; D016572:Cyclosporine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005126:Eye Burns / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000601:surgery*; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D007273:Injections, Intramuscular; D015948:Keratoplasty, Penetrating / Q000276:immunology*; D011817:Rabbits; D012972:Sodium Hydroxide; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous
chemical_list: D012972:Sodium Hydroxide; D016572:Cyclosporine