Sustainable Approaches to Treat Syneresis Using Bioengineered Ocular Models.

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Ophthalmology
• Regenerative Medicine

Background:

• Syneresis, the liquefaction of vitreous humor (VH), affects over 50% of individuals over 50, causing vision impairment.
• Current treatments like vitrectomy and laser vitreolysis are invasive with limited efficacy.
• There is a need for effective, less invasive treatments for VH liquefaction.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a sustainable, bioengineered vitreous humor substitute using livestock by-products.
• To create a hydrogel that mimics the viscoelastic and optical properties of natural VH.
• To explore regenerative therapies for vision issues caused by syneresis.

Main Methods:

• Utilized ovine (sheep) vitreous humor as a source material.
• Developed a hydrogel formulation through processing and homogenization.
• Assessed injectability through 20G and 22G needles.
• Performed optical analysis to determine attenuation coefficients.

Main Results:

• The bioengineered hydrogel demonstrated promising viscoelastic and optical properties comparable to natural VH.
• Optical analysis showed low attenuation coefficients (e.g., 0.04120 mm⁻¹ for non-homogenized samples).
• The hydrogel was successfully processed and shown to be injectable through standard ophthalmic needles.

Conclusions:

• This study presents a novel, sustainable approach to vitreous humor replacement using repurposed livestock by-products.
• The developed hydrogel shows potential as a therapeutic agent for syneresis and related vision problems.
• Further research will focus on refining the hydrogel and evaluating its in-vivo performance and integration.