PURPOSE To determine the viability and potential usefulness of cryopreserved human primary cultured corneal endothelial cells by characterizing their morphology, gene expression, and ability for genetic modification by the lentiviral vector equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV). METHODS Primary cultured endothelial cells were dissociated from human corneas and grown in organ culture medium. C...

BACKGROUND Our aim was to determine if there is a correlation between corneal biomechanical properties, endothelial cell count, and corneal pachymetry in healthy corneas. MATERIAL/METHODS Ninety-two eyes of all subjects underwent complete ocular examination, including intraocular pressure measurement by Goldmann applanation tonometer, objective refraction, and slit-lamp biomicroscopy. Topogra...

AIM To compare corneal endothelial structure and central corneal thickness (CCT) between type II diabetics and non-diabetic control patients. To look for correlations between diabetic status and corneal findings. METHODS Hospital-based, observational study. 200 eyes (from 100 type II diabetic patients and 100 controls) were included. Specular microscopy and pachymetry were used to measure end...

Maintenance of corneal transparency is crucial for vision and depends mainly on the endothelium, a non-proliferative monolayer of cells covering the inner part of the cornea. When endothelial cell density falls below a critical threshold, the barrier and "pump" functions of the endothelium are compromised which results in corneal oedema and loss of visual acuity. The conventional treatment for ...

Using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, we measured the concentration of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) in human aqueous humor and serum from 36 eyes of 33 patients and analyzed the relationship between HGF and several parameters of corneal endothelial cells. Aqueous HGF concentrations ranged from 0.020-0.194 ng/mL (average: 0.101 +/- 0.044 ng/mL) and was correlated positively with corneal ...

Considerable interest has been generated for the development of suitable corneal endothelial graft alternatives through cell-tissue engineering, which can potentially alleviate the shortage of corneal transplant material. The advent of less invasive suture-less key-hole surgery options such as Descemet's Stripping Endothelial Keratoplasty (DSEK) and Descemet's Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty ...

Endothelial cell dysfunction as in Fuchs dystrophy or pseudophakic bullous keratopathy, and the limited regenerative capacity of human corneal endothelial cells (HCECs), drive the need for corneal transplant. In response to limited donor corneal availability, significant effort has been directed towards cell therapy as an alternative to surgery. Stimulation of endogenous progenitors, or transpl...

purpose: to evaluate endothelial cell density (ecd) and morphology of clear corneal grafts after descemet stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (dsaek) and to determine the factors that influence graft ecd postoperatively. methods: seventy-seven eyes (38 right eyes) of 64 patients (34 female subjects) who underwent dsaek for fuchs’ endothelial dystrophy (n=38) or pseudophakic bullous ker...

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to determine whether messenger RNA coding for hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), HGF receptor (MET), keratinocyte growth factor (KGF), KGF receptor, and fibroblast growth factor (FGF) receptor-2 were produced in primary cultures of human corneal epithelial, stromal fibroblast, and endothelial cells, as well as ex vivo corneal epithelium, endothelial cells tran...

Endothelial keratoplasty is a recent shift in the surgical treatment of corneal endothelial dystrophies, where the dysfunctional endothelium is replaced whilst retaining the unaffected corneal layers. To overcome the limitation of donor corneal shortage, alternative use of tissue engineered constructs is being researched. Tissue constructs with intact extracellular matrix are generated using st...