[Experimental evaluation of the efficacy of tissue-engineered constructs in the treatment of limbal stem cell...

Limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD) is one of the leading factors negatively affecting the success of keratoplasty, and its treatment remains an urgent problem in ophthalmology. With the development of regenerative medicine, one of the promising approaches is the transplantation of tissue-engineered constructs from cultured limbal stem cells (LSCs) in biopolymer carriers.

This study was conducted to develop an experimental model of LSCD and evaluate the effectiveness of transplantation of a tissue-engineered construct consisting of cultured cells containing a population of LSCs and a collagen carrier.

The study was performed on 12 rabbits and included several stages. At the first stage, the physiological effects of collagen matrix implantation into the limbal zone were studied. At the second stage, tissue-engineered constructs consisting of LSCs on a collagen matrix were formed and their effect on the regeneration processes in the experimental LSCD model was analyzed. The animals were divided into 2 groups: surgical treatment (transplantation of the tissue-engineered construct) was used in the experimental group, and conservative treatment was used in the control group. Slit-lamp biomicroscopy with photo-registration, fluorescein corneal staining, optical coherence tomography of the anterior segment of the eye, and impression cytology were used to assess the results.

No side reactions were observed after implantation of the collagen matrix into the limbal zone. One month after surgical treatment of the LSCD model in the experimental group, complete epithelization with minor manifestations of epitheliopathy was observed. In the control group, erosion of the corneal epithelium was noted. The time of corneal epithelization in the experimental and control groups was 9.2±2.95 and 46.20±12.07 days, respectively (p=0.139). According to the data of impression cytology, in the experimental group there were no goblet cells in the central part of the cornea, which indicates the restoration of corneal type epithelial cells, in contrast to the control group.

Transplantation of a tissue-engineered construct from cultured limbal cells on a collagen membrane should be considered as a promising method for the treatment of limbal stem cell deficiency.