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Updated: Jun 24, 2026
A Porcine Corneal Endothelial Organ Culture Model Using Split Corneal Buttons
Published on: October 6, 2019
Morphological observations of rat corneal endothelial cells after exposure to ozonated solution
Hisaharu Suzuki1, Shigeru Sato2, Nao Murano1
1Department of Ophthalmology, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan.
Purpose:
To determine whether exposure to ozonated solution alters the morphology of corneal endothelial cells in rats and to examine the protective effect of ascorbic acid.
Methods:
The anterior chambers of rat eyes were filled with 4 ppm of ozonated solution. Some were left in that state, while others were flushed out either 10, 30, or 60 s after exposure to a balanced salt solution (BSS), or to BSS containing 0.001 M ascorbic acid. Corneal endothelial cells were assessed by scanning and electron microscopy either 1 h or 1 week after treatment, and the expressions of aquaporin (AQ)-1 and zonula occludens (ZO)-1 were determined by immunohistochemistry.
Results:
When exposure time was longer than 10 s, damaged cell membranes and abnormal organelles were observed 1 h after treatment. The longer the exposure time, the more severe the observed alterations; however, the eyes regained almost their normal state at 1 week. When the BSS contained ascorbic acid, no severe damage was observed under any condition. Normal AQ-1 and ZO-1 expressions were observed even with 60 s of exposure when ascorbic acid was used.
Conclusions:
A short period of irrigation of the anterior chamber with ozonated solution does not harm the corneal endothelium even when used in combination with ascorbic acid.
