PURPOSE Sulfur mustard (SM) is a highly reactive vesicant that causes severe ocular injuries. Following exposure to moderate or high doses, a subset of victims develops a chronic injury known as mustard gas keratopathy (MGK) involving a keratitis of unknown etiopathogenesis with secondary keratopathies such as persistent epithelial lesions, corneal neovascularization, and progressive corneal de...

OBJECTIVE To assess the role of a carbohydrate-binding protein, galectin-7, in reepithelialization of corneal wounds. METHODS Transepithelial excimer laser ablations were performed on mouse corneas, and the wounds were allowed to partially heal in vivo for 18 to 22 hours. At the end of the healing period, expression levels of galectin-7 messenger RNA and protein were analyzed using semiquanti...

Ultraviolet B (UVB) irradiation is the most common cause of radiation damage to the eyeball and is a risk factor for human corneal damage. We determined the protective effect of fucoxanthin, which is a carotenoid found in common edible seaweed, on ocular tissues against oxidative UVB-induced corneal injury. The experimental rats were intravenously injected with fucoxanthin at doses of 0.5, 5 mg...

AIM To compare the effect of topically administered and subconjunctivally injected bevacizumab on experimental corneal neovascularization in rats for two weeks after treatment. METHODS Twenty-eight Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into four groups of 7 animals. Each corneal center of right eye was cauterized with silver/potassium nitrate for 8s. After corneal burning, bevacizumab (12.5mg/mL) ...

Occasionally our fundamental perceptions regarding the biology of a system are altered by a simple finding that has the effect of prying open a door to a broad new horizon. Such is the case with the observation that the anterior keratocytes disappear after the wounding of the corneal epithelium and the subsequent discovery that this disappearance occurs through programmed cell death or apoptosi...