Department of Ophthalmology, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250021, China.
Biomed Res Int. 2013;2013:624563. doi: 10.1155/2013/624563. Epub 2013 Jun 27.
To evaluate the role of corneal epithelium in riboflavin/ultraviolet-A (UVA) mediated corneal collagen cross-linking treatment.
Fifty New Zealand rabbits were divided into 5 groups: UVA treatment with or without corneal epithelium, UVA+riboflavin treatment with or without corneal epithelium, and control without any treatment. All rabbits were sacrificed after irradiation and subsequently 4 mm × 10 mm corneal strips were harvested for biomechanical evaluation.
UVA irradiation alone did not enhance the maximal stress and Young's modulus of corneal specimens with (3.15 ± 0.56 mpa, 1.00 ± 0.09 mpa) or without (3.53 ± 0.85 mpa, 0.94 ± 0.21 mpa) the corneal epithelium, compared to specimens in the control group (4.30 ± 0.68 mpa, 1.03 ± 0.24 mpa). However, UVA irradiation combined with riboflavin significantly increased the maximal stress and Young's modulus of corneal specimens with (5.27 ± 1.09 mpa, 1.23 ± 0.23 mpa, P < 0.05) or without (7.16 ± 1.88 mpa, 1.42 ± 0.16 mpa, P < 0.05) corneal epithelium when compared to the control group. The maximal stress and Young's modulus of cornea in UVA+riboflavin and "epithelium-off" group were 35.9% and 15.4% higher compared to the UVA+riboflavin and "epithelium-on" group, respectively (P < 0.05).
Our study shows that UVA+riboflavin treatment significantly affects the biomechanical properties of the cornea with and without epithelial removal. However, corneas without epithelium seem to benefit more compared to corneas with the epithelium.
评估角膜上皮在核黄素/紫外线 A（UVA）介导的角膜胶原交联治疗中的作用。
将 50 只新西兰兔分为 5 组：UVA 处理加或不加角膜上皮、UVA+核黄素处理加或不加角膜上皮、以及不加任何处理的对照组。所有兔子在照射后被处死，随后采集 4mm×10mm 的角膜条进行生物力学评估。
单独的 UVA 照射不会增强有（3.15±0.56 mpa，1.00±0.09 mpa）或没有（3.53±0.85 mpa，0.94±0.21 mpa）角膜上皮的角膜标本的最大应力和杨氏模量，与对照组（4.30±0.68 mpa，1.03±0.24 mpa）相比。然而，UVA 照射联合核黄素显著增加了有（5.27±1.09 mpa，1.23±0.23 mpa，P<0.05）或没有（7.16±1.88 mpa，1.42±0.16 mpa，P<0.05）角膜上皮的角膜标本的最大应力和杨氏模量，与对照组相比。与 UVA+核黄素和“上皮去除”组相比，UVA+核黄素和“上皮保留”组的角膜最大应力和杨氏模量分别提高了 35.9%和 15.4%（P<0.05）。
本研究表明，UVA+核黄素治疗显著影响有和无上皮去除的角膜的生物力学特性。然而，与有上皮的角膜相比，无上皮的角膜似乎受益更多。
