Reactive formation of hyaluronic acid after small and large lens injury.

The reactive production of hyaluronic acid was studied in the rabbit lens following a 4 mm in diameter anterior lens wound, and following a large lens wound (extracapsular cataract extraction). Furthermore, human post-mortem after-cataract specimen were also studied. The hyaluronic acid was localized histochemically using a new specific technique. Hyaluronic acid in the small wound was localized in the primary sealing plug that precedes the reepithelialization and new capsule formation. In the large wound hyaluronic acid was found around the cells proliferating on the posterior capsule. The same was true in the human after-cataract specimen. It was concluded that the primary wound sealing and the posterior capsule cellular outgrowth constitute similar cellular responses.