Electron microscopic studies on the blood-aqueous barrier of prostaglandin-treated rabbit eyes. I. Iridial and ciliary processes.

Prostaglandins E1 and E2 were applied topically to rabbit eyes. Structures related to the blood-aqueous barrier in the iridial and ciliary processes, as well as the permeability of the ciliary epithelium to the protein tracer horseradish peroxidase, were studied with the electron microscope. Marked morphological changes, including dilations of the intercellular spaces and separation of the two epithelial cell layers, were found in the epithelium of the iridial processes. Only minor structural changes were found in the epithelium of the ciliary processes. Leakage of peroxidase through the intercellular spaces of the epithelium was demonstrated in the iridial processes and in the anterior parts of the ciliary processes. In the ciliary vessels of the same regions, opening of interendothelial gaps, platelet aggregations, microthrombi, and haemorrhages were found. In a previous in vitro study on the effects of prostaglandins on the movement of peroxidase in the ciliary epithelium, no structural changes of the epithelium were found, and the epithelial diffusion barrier to peroxidase was found to be intact. It is assumed that the breakdown of this barrier in vivo is secondary to vascular changes.