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Semi-quantitative assessments of dextran toxicity on corneal endothelium: conceptual design of a predictive algorithm

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Abstract

Dextran is added to corneal culture medium for at least 8 h prior to transplantation to ensure that the cornea is osmotically dehydrated. It is presumed that dextran has a certain toxic effect on corneal endothelium but the degree and the kinetics of this effect have not been quantified so far. We consider that such data regarding the toxicity of dextran on the corneal endothelium could have an impact on scheduling and logistics of corneal preparation in eye banking. In retrospective statistic analyses, we compared the progress of corneal endothelium (endothelium cell loss per day) of 1334 organ-cultured corneal explants in media with and without dextran. Also, the influence of donor-age, sex and cause of death on the observed dextran-mediated effect on endothelial cell counts was studied. Corneas cultured in dextran-free medium showed a mean endothelium cell count decrease of 0.7% per day. Dextran supplementation led to a mean endothelium cell loss of 2.01% per day; this reflects an increase by the factor of 2.9. The toxic impact of dextran was found to be time dependent; while the prevailing part of the effect was observed within the first 24 h after dextran-addition. Donor age, sex and cause of death did not seem to have an influence on the dextran-mediated toxicity. Based on these findings, we could design an algorithm which approximately describes the kinetics of dextran-toxicity. We reproduced the previously reported toxic effect of dextran on the corneal endothelium in vitro. Additionally, this is the first work that provides an algorithmic instrument for the semi-quantitative calculation of the putative endothelium cell count decrease in dextran containing medium for a given incubation time and could thus influence the time management and planning of corneal transplantations.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to than Ms. Sybille Altenaer for her support collecting the data and Ms. Cornelia Roggenbruck for her help improving the language precision of the manuscript.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Department of Ophthalmology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martitistr. 52, 20246, Hamburg, Germany

      Filip Filev, Ceprail Oezcan, Jana Feuerstacke & Stephan J. Linke

    2. Department of Forensic Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martitistr. 52, 20246, Hamburg, Germany

      Ceprail Oezcan, Birgit Wulff & Olaf J. C. Hellwinkel

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    1. Filip Filev
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    Correspondence to Filip Filev.

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    All authors certify that they have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest (such as honoraria; educational grants; participation in speakers’ bureaus; membership, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, or other equity interest; and expert testimony or patent-licensing arrangements), or non-financial interest (such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, knowledge or beliefs) in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.

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    Filip Filev and Ceprail Oezcan have contributed equally to this paper.

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    Filev, F., Oezcan, C., Feuerstacke, J. et al. Semi-quantitative assessments of dextran toxicity on corneal endothelium: conceptual design of a predictive algorithm. Cell Tissue Bank 18, 91–98 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10561-016-9596-z

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10561-016-9596-z

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