OBJECTIVE Thalidomide is a potent inhibitor of angiogenesis. We evaluated the effects of Thalidomide on corneal angiogenesis and on tissue survival of grafts in rabbit eyes with pre-existing neovascularization secondary to alkali burn. METHODS Sixteen rabbits received alkali burns to one cornea. One month post-injury, assessments of corneal neovascularization were performed followed by cornea...

INTRODUCTION We report an unusual case of corneal lamellar injury caused by long bamboo splinters. CASE PRESENTATION A 70-year-old Japanese man visited our hospital with a bamboo injury. Slit lamp examination revealed that a bundle of bamboo splinters had deeply penetrated the corneal stroma of the right eye from the nasal limbus. The splinters were approximately 8 mm in length, but had not p...

PURPOSE To evaluate and compare the proinflammatory and apoptotic effects of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in three rabbit corneal injury models using a new in vivo confocal microscope (IVCM) and immunohistological techniques. METHODS Adult male New Zealand albino rabbits were used in this study. Three corneal models were tested: corneal incision, corneal epithelium scraping, and corneal suture. T...

I investigations carried out in this laboratory have been concerned with the initial responses of the corneal stromal cells to injury. One reaction which occurs in the stromal cells within a few hours after injury to the cornea is the activation of the fibrocytes to take up the vital dye, neutral red.' This reaction does not occur in the normal corneal stromal cells of the rat, but cells activa...

Macrophages accumulate during the course of corneal neovascularization, but its mechanisms and roles still remain elusive. To address these points, we herein examined corneal neovascularization after alkali injury in mice deficient in fractalkine receptor/CX3CR1, which is normally expressed by macrophages. After alkali injury, the mRNA expression of CX3CR1 was augmented along with accumulation ...

Lens damage is present in 30% of perforating injuries of the anterior segment of the eye. There is no consensus on whether the cataractous lens should be removed at the initial repair of the corneal laceration or later, when the eye has recovered from injury. Twenty-seven consecutive cases with a perforating corneal injury and lens damage were alternatively treated either with simultaneous corn...

PURPOSE To investigate whether the induction of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) targeting VEGF receptor 2 inhibits corneal neovascularization caused by alkali injury. METHODS H-2Db-restricted peptide corresponding to amino acids 400 to 408 of VEGF receptor 2 (VEGFR2(400-408)) was used as an epitope peptide. Dendritic cells (DCs) were harvested from bone marrow progenitors of C57BL/6 mice. Six-...