Surface roughness of intraocular lenses and inflammatory cell adhesion to lens surfaces

To assess and examine the relationship between the degree of intraocular lens (IOL) surface roughness and the severity of inflammatory cell adhesion to the optical surface.

Department of Ophthalmology, Tokyo Medical University Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.

Poly(methyl methacrylate) IOLs with 3 degrees of mean surface roughness (Ra) were used including IOLs with an unpolished optical surface and IOLs with optical surfaces polished for 1 day or 5 days. The IOLs were cultured for 96 hours with 1 cell/mL x 10(7) cells/mL of splenocytes from rats that developed experimental autoimmune uveoretinitis (EAU). At the end of culture, the number of inflammatory cells adhering to the optical surfaces of the IOLs was counted.

The mean Ra for the unpolished IOLs, IOLs polished for 1 day, and IOLs polished for 5 days was 14.17 nm, 3.71 nm, and 1.37 nm, respectively. The mean numbers of cells that adhered to the optical surfaces of the IOLs after culturing with splenocytes from rats with EAU were 86 cells/mm(2), 66 cells/mm(2), and 48 cells/mm(2), respectively. There was a significant difference between the unpolished IOLs and the IOLs polished for 5 days (P =.003, Mann-Whitney U test).

Inflammatory cell adhesion to the IOL optical surface was affected by the Ra value of the IOL.