Biometry of primate lenses during immersion in preservationmedia

[摘要] Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the condition ofhuman lenses (obtained from an eye bank) and of fresh monkey lenses, andto determine the effects of maintaining these lenses in various liquidpreservation media.Methods: Freshly excised human and monkey lenses were maintained for5 h in one of four solutions (Balanced Saline Solution [BSS], Ringer'sSolution, Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium with Ham's F-12[DMEM/F-12/F-12], and Tissue Culture Medium 199 [TC-199]) using acustom-designed, temperature-regulated testing cell. A modified opticalcomparator and digital camera were used to photograph magnified lensprofiles and measure lens diameter and thickness. Lens volume was thencalculated assuming rotational symmetry about the optical axis.Results: Seven of the 33 human lenses exhibited extensive swellingand separation of the capsule from the lens cell mass prior to theincubation. During incubation, for 12/22 of the remaining human and27/27 of the monkey lenses, thickness increased by 1.0-1.8%, diameterdecreased by 0.7-1.6% and the volume was essentially unchanged.Substantial swelling and capsular separation were observed in 10 of the22 human lenses, 7/10 for those maintained in salt solutions, and 3/12for those in tissue culture media. Lens volumes increased by an averageof 6.8%, due to an 8.7% increase in the thickness, while the diameterdecreased by 0.9%. These changes appeared to be independent ofpostmortem time and donor age.Conclusions: Culture media are more effective than simple saltsolutions in maintaining lens physical integrity during short-termincubations. Substantial uptake of water, accompanied by separation ofthe capsule from the lens cell mass, occurs at various stages duringstorage and experimental manipulations in >60% of human lensesobtained from the eye bank. Data obtained with such lenses will not berepresentative of the true ex vivo state. It is recommended that lensesbe assessed to determine if swelling has taken place before acceptanceof data.

[学科分类] 生物化学/生物物理