Related Experiment Videos
[Development of corneal storage medium--first report. Examination of rabbit cornea]
1Department of Ophthalmology, Nihon University School of Medicine, 30-1 Oyaguchikami-machi, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo 173-8610, Japan.
Purpose:
To develop and evaluate a new corneal storage medium with a simple formula by histological methods.
Methods:
We compared two corneal storage media, containing minimum essential medium (MEM) and 2.5% chondroitin sulfate, pH 7.33 and osmolality of 320 mOsm/kg, to OPTISOL-GS. The differences in the two media were the molecular weight (MW) and source of chondroitin sulfate. MW of Medium I was 27,500 and MW of Medium II was 33,700. A cornea with scleral rim obtained from a Japanese white rabbit was stored in either Medium I or Medium II and the fellow cornea was stored in OPTISOL-GS for 7 or 14 days at 4 degrees C. Histological examination of corneal endothelial cells was performed both by scanning electron microscopy and by transmission electron microscopy.
Results:
At day 7, there was no significant difference in histological findings among the rabbit corneas stored in OPTISOL-GS, Medium I, or Medium II. At day 14, corneas stored in OPTISOL-GS or Medium I showed similar histological findings. In Medium II, endothelial cells showed marked degeneration.
Conclusion:
The results of experiments with rabbit cornea indicated that OPTISOL-GS and Medium I could preserve endothelial cellular structure better than Medium II. The difference between Medium I and Medium II was only the MW of the chondroitin sulfate used. The MW may be an important factor to determine suitable chondroitin sulfate for developing a corneal storage medium.