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A unique and biocompatible approach for corneal collagen crosslinking in vivo

GULZAR, A.; KALELI, H. N.; Koseoglu, G. D.; Hasanreisoglu, M.; Yildiz, A.; Sahin, A.; KIZILEL, S.

2024-03-20 bioengineering
10.1101/2024.03.18.585574 bioRxiv
Show abstract

Corneal crosslinking (CXL) is a widely applied technique to halt the progression of ectatic diseases by increasing the thickness and mechanical stiffness of the cornea. This study investigated the biocompatibility and efficiency of a novel CXL procedure using ruthenium and blue light in rat corneas and evaluated factors important for clinical application. To perform the CXL procedure, the corneal epithelium of rats was removed under anesthesia, followed by the application of a solution containing ruthenium and sodium persulfate (SPS). The corneas were then exposed to blue light at 430 nm at 3 mW/cm2 for 5 minutes. Rat corneas were examined and evaluated for corneal opacity, corneal and limbal neovascularization, and corneal epithelial regeneration at days 0, 1, 3, 6, 8, and 14. On day 28, the corneas were isolated for subsequent tissue follow-up and analysis. CXL with ruthenium and blue light showed rapid epithelial healing, with 100% regeneration of the corneal epithelium and no corneal opacity by day 6. The ruthenium group also exhibited significantly reduced corneal (p<0.01) and limbal neovascularization (p<0.001). Histological analysis revealed no signs of cellular damage or apoptosis, which further confirms the biocompatibility and nontoxicity of our method. Confocal and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed a greater density of collagen fibrils, indicating efficient crosslinking and enhanced structural integrity. This study confirmed the in vivo safety, biocompatibility, and functionality of ruthenium and blue light CXL. This method can prevent toxicity caused by UV-A light and can be a rapid alternative treatment to standard crosslinking procedures. Graphical Abstract O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=102 SRC="FIGDIR/small/585574v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (25K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@c05147org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@18244borg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@f6e30eorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@b4ec3a_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG

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