The effect of metabolic inhibitors on retinal adhesion and subretinal fluid resorption

Retinal adhesion and the resorption of subretinal fluid were studied in Dutch rabbits, with two experimental techniques. In the first, small local detachments were made in vivo by injecting a small amount of fluid under the retina with a micropipette, and the time for resorption of the detachment was monitored. In the second, strips of eyecup were maintained in a physiologic bathing medium, and the force required to peel retina from the pigment epithelium was measured. Using these techniques, we have found that both the mechanisms for removing subretinal fluid and for maintaining retinal adhesion in vitro are enhanced by exposure to ouabain, are inhibited by exposure to cyanide, and are inhibited by the replacement of the physiologic medium with normal saline. These data suggest that metabolic systems may simultaneously hydrate and dehydrate the subretinal space and that some factors which are important to the maintenance of normal adhesion are missing from normal saline.