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Updated: Jun 20, 2026
Murine Corneal Transplantation: A Model to Study the Most Common Form of Solid Organ Transplantation
Published on: November 17, 2014
Accelerated corneal graft rejection in baby rats
Johannes Schwartzkopff1, Moritz Berger, Florian Birnbaum
1University Eye Hospital, Killianstrasse 5, D-79106 Freiburg, Germany. johannes.schwartzkopff@uniklinik-freiburg.de
Background:
Penetrating keratoplasty in infants has a very poor outcome compared to adults. It is of intrinsic interest to gain insight into the still unknown immunological mechanisms of graft failure because any form of uncorrected corneal opacity leads to amblyopia.
Methods:
Allogeneic keratoplasty was performed between Lewis and Fisher rats. The recipients' ages were 10 and 3 weeks, respectively. All experiments were controlled syngeneically. Survival rates were calculated and cellular infiltrates analysed histologically.
Results:
Median graft survival times were 15 days in old recipients and 9 days in young recipients (p<0.01). There were fewer infiltrating cells in the younger rats than in the older ones on the day of rejection. Despite the fact that T cells dominated there were significantly more NK cells in young recipients at all time points after transplantation when compared to old recipients.
Conclusions:
An animal model has been established that shows similar rejection kinetics as in children, that is corneal graft failure occurs sooner in young rats. Already little infiltration was sufficient to reject a corneal allograft. The dominance of infiltrating NK cells and the vigorous rejection process suggest an involvement of the innate immune system in this process.
