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Histochemical study of alkali-burned rabbit anterior eye segment in which severe lesions were prevented by aprotinin treatment

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Activities of different enzymes (acid glycosidases, phosphatases, Na+−K+-dependent ATPase, proteases, dehydrogenases) and acid glycosaminoglycans were studied by histochemical methods in sections of rabbit anterior eye segments after experimental alkali burn and treatment with aprotinin, an inhibitor of plasmin and other serine proteinases. Solutions of sodium hydroxide (0.25–1.0M) were applied on corneas using 12-mm-diameter plastic tube for 15–60 s. After wiping with cotton and rinsing with tap water, aprotinin solutions were applied in saline (in experimental animals) and saline (in control animals) dropwise in 12-h intervals for a month. Within the first two weeks aprotinin was used at a concentration of 5000 IU/ml. During the subsequent two weeks the aprotinin concentration was reduced to 2500 IU/ml.

Striking differences in enzyme activities and in the healing between treated and untreated eyes were found. Without aprotinin, ulcers developed in most corneas within 3 weeks and plasmin was regularly demonstrated in tears and in the aqueous. When aprotinin treatment was started within 24 h after the burn, the number of enzymatically active inflammatory cells was significantly lower, not only in the cornea itself but also in the whole anterior eye segment. With aprotinin treatment no ulcerations and no plasmin in tears and the aqueous were observed and the corneas healed within a month. The healing process started from the zone of enzymatically activated corneal cells in the unburned zone at the corneal periphery. In the regenerating epithelium and endothelium high activities of Na+−K+-dependent ATPase, γ-glutamyltransferase, lactate and succinate dehydrogenases appeared very soon. Keratocytes displayed high activities of all enzymes studied. The restoration of corneal transparency depended on concentration of alkali used and parallelled the regeneration of the stroma and normalization of corneal hydration. Our results demonstrate that aprotinin is a potent therapeutic agent in the treatment of experimentally induced corneal ulcers, presumably due to its inhibitory action on plasmin and other serine proteases present in the alkali-burned anterior eye segment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Experimental Medicine, Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, Třída lidovych milicí 61, CS-12000, Prague 2, Czechoslovakia

    J. Čejková

  2. Laboratory of Histochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Studničkova 2, CS-12000, Prague, Czechoslovakia

    Z. Lojda

  3. Department of Virology, University of Helsinki, Haartmaninkatu 3, SF-00290, Helsinki, Finland

    E-M. Salonen & A. Vaheri

Authors
  1. J. Čejková
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  2. Z. Lojda
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  3. E-M. Salonen
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  4. A. Vaheri
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Čejková, J., Lojda, Z., Salonen, EM. et al. Histochemical study of alkali-burned rabbit anterior eye segment in which severe lesions were prevented by aprotinin treatment. Histochemistry 92, 441–448 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00492502

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00492502

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