In vitro incorporation of proline into keratoconic human corneas.

Corneal buttons were obtained from four young adults with advanced keratoconus following perforating keratoplasty. The corneal buttons were incubated in organ culture media containing 3H-proline. Autoradiographs of corneal sections showed that the incorporation of the radioisotope was significantly higher in all layers of the kerotoconic corneas than that found in the normal controls, indicating an increased protein biosynthesis in the former. It is suggested that in spite of the found increased synthetic activity, slow destruction and thinning of the cornea in keratoconus might occur as the result of inadequate compensation for tissue loss due to increased collagenolytic activity in the disease.