title: Electron microscopic study of anterior lens capsule allotransplants in chronic corneal ulcers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study provides ultrastructural morphology and quantitative analysis of allotransplants of anterior lens capsule in the treatment of recurrent corneal ulcers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Mechanical ulcers of uniform size were created with a 6-mm corneal trephine in 9 eyes at one-third corneal depth in 6 white New Zealand male rabbits. Following initial epithelial regrowth, an identical injury was created in the same area of each cornea a second time. In 6 eyes (treated group), an anterior lens capsule from a healthy donor rabbit was sutured into the ulcer bed, followed by antibiotic/steroid drops 3 times daily for 1 week. The remaining 3 control eyes were allowed to heal without surgical intervention using the same antibiotic/steroid drops only. Slit-lamp examination, histopathology, and electron microscopic findings with hemidesmosome counts and size were recorded over a 3-month follow-up period.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The control injured group had discontinuous epithelial basement membrane with significant reduction in hemidesmosome count compared with noninjured controls (P<0.0001). The treated subgroup 7 days after surgery showed linear basement membrane with identifiable lamina lucida and densa and newly-formed hemidesmosomes, which were significantly more numerous than in the injured but nontreated group (P<0.0001). Numerous hemidesmosomes and firm adhesion of epithelium to underlying stroma were seen in this group with lens capsule allografts 3 months after surgery. The number and size of hemidesmosomes did not significantly differ between groups 7 days and 3 months after surgery.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  On the ultrastructural level, anterior lens capsule allotransplants in mechanically induced corneal ulcer heal with continuously formed epithelial basement membrane and numerous hemidesmosomes. This enables significant reformation of hemidesmosomes that are identical in size to hemidesmosomes in healthy corneas and helps forming a stronger apposition for epithelial cells to underlying structures in eyes where epithelial basement membrane has been destroyed from chronic ulceration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, P. J. Safárik University, Faculty of Medicine, Kosice, Slovak Republic. ikozak_2000@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kozák
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Trbolová
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zibrín
authors.forename: Tatiana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Komorová
authors.forename: Lev
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kolodzyeiski
authors.forename: Tomás
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Juhás
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000869:Anterior Eye Segment; D001485:Basement Membrane / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000502:physiology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003320:Corneal Ulcer / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D019573:Epithelium, Corneal / Q000648:ultrastructure; D022002:Hemidesmosomes / Q000648:ultrastructure; D007903:Lens Capsule, Crystalline / Q000637:transplantation* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D008297:Male; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D011817:Rabbits; D012008:Recurrence; D013536:Suture Techniques; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous; D014945:Wound Healing