Newton R H, Meek K M
The Oxford Research Unit, The Open University, Oxford OX1 5HR, United Kingdom.
Biophys J. 1998 Nov;75(5):2508-12. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3495(98)77695-7.
The precise orientation of the collagen fibrils in human cornea and sclera and the method by which these two areas fuse together at the limbus have never been determined, despite the importance of this information. From a consideration of the mechanics of the system, fibril orientation in the tissue has the potential to affect the curvature of the cornea so, by inference, refractive problems such as astigmatism involving an incorrect curvature of the cornea may be related to fibril orientation. The high intensity and small beam size of a synchrotron x-ray source has enabled us to study fibril orientation in post-mortem human cornea and sclera. Previously we have revealed two preferred directions of orientation in the cornea (Meek, K. M., T. Blamires, G. F. Elliot, T. Y. Gyi, and C. J. Nave. 1987. Curr. Eye Res. 6:841-846) and a circumcorneal annulus in the limbus (Newton, R. H., and K. M. Meek. 1998. Invest. Ophthalmol. & Visual Sci. 39: 1125-1134). Here we present the results of our investigation into the relationship between these two features. Our measurements indicate that the corneal fibrils oriented in the two preferred directions bend at the limbus to run circumferentially. On the basis of these results we propose a model as to how the human cornea and sclera fuse together.
尽管这些信息很重要，但人类角膜和巩膜中胶原纤维的精确取向以及这两个区域在角膜缘处融合在一起的方式从未被确定过。从该系统的力学角度考虑，组织中的纤维取向有可能影响角膜的曲率，因此据推断，诸如散光这类涉及角膜曲率不正确的屈光问题可能与纤维取向有关。同步加速器X射线源的高强度和小光束尺寸使我们能够研究死后人类角膜和巩膜中的纤维取向。此前我们已经揭示了角膜中的两个优先取向方向（米克，K.M.，T.布拉米雷斯，G.F.埃利奥特，T.Y.吉伊，和C.J.内夫。1987年。《当前眼研究》6：841 - 846）以及角膜缘处的角膜周围环带（牛顿，R.H.，和K.M.米克。1998年。《眼科研究与视觉科学》39：1125 - 1134）。在此我们展示了我们对这两个特征之间关系的研究结果。我们的测量表明，沿两个优先方向取向的角膜纤维在角膜缘处弯曲并沿圆周方向延伸。基于这些结果，我们提出了一个关于人类角膜和巩膜如何融合在一起的模型。
