Mitotic effect of autologous blood injection and diode laser bleb revision on rabbit filtration blebs.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of intrableb autologous blood injection and diode laser bleb revision on cellular proliferation in filtration blebs of rabbits. METHODS Bilateral filtration surgery with mitomycin was performed on 19 white 2.5- to 3-kg New Zealand rabbits. Autologous blood injection (n = 9) or diode laser bleb revision (n = 10) was performed on blebs of right eyes (intervention eyes) on day 14 after filtration surgery. The blebs of the left eyes served as controls. Cellular proliferation was assessed by in vivo incorporation of 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU), after BrdU, 10 mg/kg, was injected via the ear vein on days 15, 16, and 18. The rabbits were euthanized on day 21. Conjunctival sections were stained with hematoxylin-eosin for total cell counts and with anti-BrdU antibody for counts of proliferating cells. The BrdU labeling index was calculated by dividing the mean proliferating cell count by the mean total cell count. RESULTS The BrdU labeling index was significantly increased in the blood-injected eyes as compared with the control eyes (P = .03). The BrdU labeling index was increased in the diode laser-revised eyes as compared with the control eyes, approaching significance (P = .06). Intraocular pressure increased significantly in the eyes that underwent bleb interventions in both groups from baseline and compared with the control eyes. CONCLUSIONS Intrableb autologous blood injection and diode laser bleb revision stimulate cellular proliferation in the rabbit filtration bleb, which may contribute to the rise in intraocular pressure observed clinically after these interventions.