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Updated: May 1, 2026
Ex Vivo Corneal Organ Culture Model for Wound Healing Studies
Published on: February 15, 2019
Corneal wound healing promoted by 3 blood derivatives: an in vitro and in vivo comparative study
Vanesa Freire1, Noelia Andollo, Jaime Etxebarria
1*Department of Cell Biology and Histology, School of Medicine and Dentistry, BioCruces Health Research Institute, University of the Basque Country, Leioa, Spain; †Department of R&D, Instituto Clínico-Quirúrgico de Oftalmología, Bilbao, Spain; ‡BioCruces Health Research Institute, Cruces University Hospital, Barakaldo, Spain; and §Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine and Dentistry, BioCruces Health Research Institute, University of the Basque Country, Leioa, Spain.
Purpose:
The aim of this study was to compare the effect on corneal wound healing of 3 differently manufactured blood derivatives [autologous serum (AS), platelet-rich plasma, and serum derived from plasma rich in growth factors (s-PRGF)].
Methods:
Scratch wound-healing assays were performed on rabbit primary corneal epithelial cultures and human corneal epithelial cells. Additionally, mechanical debridement of rabbit corneal epithelium was performed. Wound-healing progression was assessed by measuring the denuded areas remaining over time after treatment with each of the 3 blood derivatives or a control treatment.
Results:
In vitro data show statistically significant differences in the healing process with all the derivatives compared with the control, but 2 of them (AS and s-PRGF) induced markedly faster wound healing. In contrast, although the mean time required to complete in vivo reepithelization was similar to that of AS and s-PRGF treatment, only wounds treated with s-PRGF were significantly smaller in size from 2.5 days onward with respect to the control treatment.
Conclusions:
All 3 blood derivatives studied are promoters of corneal reepithelization. However, the corneal wound-healing progresses differently with each derivative, being faster in vitro under AS and s-PRGF treatment and producing in vivo the greatest decrease in wound size under s-PRGF treatment. These findings highlight that the manufacturing process of the blood derivatives may modulate the efficacy of the final product.
